Honduras: US Press Falsely Claims Honduran Plurality for Coup

US Press Falsely Claims Honduran Plurality for Coup
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/07/13-4
by Robert Naiman. Published on Monday, July 13, 2009 by CommonDreams.org

Did a CID-Gallup poll last week indicate that a plurality of Hondurans
support the military coup against democratically elected President Zelaya?
Yes, according to:

the Washington Post [July 9
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/09/AR200907090
2820.html> ],

the Wall Street Journal [July 10
<http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124718543706320515.html> ],

the Christian Science Monitor [July 11
<http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0711/p06s01-woam.html> ],

and Reuters [July 9
<http://www.reuters.com/article/newsMaps/idUSTRE5685W120090709> ],

which all reported that the poll showed 41% in favor of the coup, with only
28% opposed.

But in fact the poll showed that 46% - a plurality - were *opposed* to the
coup, according to:

the New York Times[July 10
<http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/11/world/americas/11honduras.html> ],

the Associated Press [July 11
<http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jAkMGKIUDg_ngUiZboxQbYj5_
DPwD99C37KO0> ]

- and the president of CID-Gallup, in an interview with Voice of America on
July 9
<http://www1.voanews.com/spanish/news/latin-america/Honduras-pais-dividido-g
olpe-estado-zelaya-50408857.html> .

As of this writing - Sunday evening, 5:30 pm Eastern time - none of the
outlets which reported the poll incorrectly had corrected their earlier,
inaccurate, reports.

In reporting the poll incorrectly, the Post, the Journal, the Monitor, and
Reuters gave the impression that more Hondurans supported the coup than
opposed it, suggesting that this meant trouble for the international
coalition pressing for the restoration of President Zelaya - which includes
Costa Rican President Arias and Organization of American States
Secretary-General Insulza, as well as the Obama Administration.

Of course, even if a poll had showed a plurality in favor of the coup, that
would not legitimize the coup. But the opinion of the population, even if
difficult to discern in the repression following the coup, is without
question a key fact in understanding the situation. To misreport such a key
fact is to substantially misinform. To fail to correct such a mistake
compounds the error.

The incorrect report of the poll appears to have originated in the Honduran
La Prensa. But the U.S. press should have checked before simply repeating
what was in La Prensa, particularly on such an important fact, particularly
because the result was counterintuitive.

But perhaps the result was not counterintuitive for these press outlets, and
that may suggest a deeper problem - the U.S. press is out of touch with the
majority of the population in Honduras, and therefore credulous to results
which misreport Honduran public opinion as being much more similar than it
is to the opinions of Honduran elites.

To ask for corrections, you can contact:

the Washington Post here <mailto:corrections@washpost.com> ;

the Christian Science Monitor here
<http://www.csmonitor.com/cgi-bin/encryptmail.pl?ID=B2B0B0B3B0B6B0B4B0B8B4B4
B2B7> ;

and the Wall Street Journal here <mailto:wsjcontact@dowjones.com> .

Robert Naiman is Senior Policy Analyst at Just Foreign Policy
<http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/> .

----
Mark Perkins MLIS, MCLIP
www.markperkins.info

https://keyserver.pgp.com/