The Cheshire Town Post

~ by Craig Houghton - July 21, 2007 ~

Two days ago I posted a piece on the Cheshire Town Post where I presented evidence that the informal Cheshire Herald web poll, which is then published in print, allows participants to vote repeatedly without detection. No one expects the poll to be accurate — you have to actively visit the site to participate. However, considering the amount of discussion the poll generates, few realize that anyone can vote again and again.

I just spoke to the advertising director at the Cheshire Herald. She was already aware of the problem and does not feel the current disclaimer should change. She’s expressed concern that to do so would be to invite abuse. I consider the current state of the poll to be an abuse of the community’s trust.

She told me that she realizes people will likely take the poll out of context, but it’s wrong to think of this in terms of a potential for abuse. After all, it’s just a web poll. She argued that people will take absolutely anything and run with it. She compared it to the ‘pass a message around the room whisper game’ — in the end a garbled message circles back around and everyone has a good laugh. I think that the message is certain to fail when the information going in is unclear or misleading.

The poll results are published in our local paper, and the staff member I spoke to noted how popular the poll has been. Is it any surprise that a Sean Strollo, a Planning and Zoning commission member, referred to the poll during one of the hearings as proof that the majority of Cheshire residents supported the mall?

The fact is, decision makers in our town government do discuss the polls. Much of that discussion happens on the blog Tim White Listens. The staff member I spoke with acknowledged that some people at the Cheshire Herald actually visit, just to have a laugh. I can only assume that she does not represent the paper in this, but she went on to laugh aloud about blogs in general, stressing that it’s all just opinion. Few bloggers are familiar with, or even attempt to uphold, journalistic standards for reporting, but I do not consider discussion among residents to be worth a good laugh. You don’t need to own a stylebook to speak the truth.

Thankfully, she said that the poll will be changing. She noted that the poll is “very rudimentary,” as it generated ballots via email submission. That is exactly what I pointed out in my post. Regarding my suggestion to change the disclaimer in anticipation of an upcoming change in polling software, she said she would, “pass that by the publisher.”

The main number for the Cheshire Herald is (203) 272-5316.