The terms horse race and handicapping the horse race, have been used to describe media coverage of elections. The terms refer to any news story or article whose main focus is describing how a particular candidate or candidates is faring during the election, in other words, trying to predict the outcome. This category includes polls. There is a thin line between a horse race news story and a non horse race news story. For example, an article simply describing a candidate's economic policy is a non horse race article, but an article which is about how certain groups of voters are angry at a candidate's economic policy is a horse race article.
Criticisms of horse race coverage
Critics of the news media say that the vast majority of all articles during a political election are horse race style. Different criticisms have been raised as to why that is bad:
*It is argued that news sources tend to use
horse race journalism
Horse race journalism is political journalism of elections that resembles coverage of horse races because of the focus on polling data and public perception instead of candidate policy, and almost exclusive reporting on candidate differences rather ...
as a ploy to lure in audiences and tighten polls during election cycles by discrediting candidates favored to win and hyping
underdogs
*Horse race coverage is considered by some to cause voters to change their actual perceptions on a candidate in a sort of
vicious cycle
A vicious circle (or cycle) is a complex chain of events that reinforces itself through a feedback loop, with detrimental results. It is a system with no tendency toward equilibrium (social, economic, ecological, etc.), at least in the short r ...
. For example, a poll showing a third party candidate having a low support percentage may discourage other people from voting for that person so as to avoid the
spoiler effect
Vote splitting is an electoral effect in which the distribution of votes among multiple similar candidates reduces the chance of winning for any of the similar candidates, and increases the chance of winning for a dissimilar candidate.
Vote spl ...
. That effect is magnified if a particular media outlet has a biased point of view that they want to get across. One way that a biased news outlet would use this technique is similar to the "some say" rhetorical device, namely by making uncited references to constituent outrage or support of some particular issue.
*Some say that horse race coverage destroys coverage of the issues, because often, an article is mostly about how groups reacted to a speech or other presentation of a candidate on an issue and has little room to discuss the candidate's point of view itself.
*A horse race style of article allows for the use of
weasel words
A weasel word, or anonymous authority, is an informal term for words and phrases aimed at creating an impression that something specific and meaningful has been said, when in fact only a vague or ambiguous claim has been communicated. Examples ...
: a subtle way of editorializing on the part of the author by focusing on the criticisms or praise of an anonymous or small group of voters.
*It is argued that horse race coverage distracts voters from issues surrounding candidates by emphasizing poll results, regardless of how reliable the polls may be.
See also
*
Pollster
An opinion poll, often simply referred to as a survey or a poll (although strictly a poll is an actual election) is a human research survey of public opinion from a particular sample. Opinion polls are usually designed to represent the opinions ...
*
Swingometer
The swingometer is a graphics device that shows the effects of the swing from one party to another on British election results programmes. It is used to estimate the number of seats that will be won by different parties, given a particular nationa ...
External links
Political Glossary: Horse RaceIn Defense of (the Right Kind of) Horse Race JournalismHyping The Horse Race
Political terminology
Journalism terminology
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