ABC News Threatens Ban on Major Polling Company for Ties to Right-Leaning Media Outlets

Disney-owned ABC News has reportedly launched an offensive on the American polling company Rasmussen Reports via a stern email questioning their ties to certain rightwing organizations. The dispute could essentially see Rasmussen Reports excluded from ABC’s coverage. Let’s take a look at the alleged email provided by the polling company and what exactly ABC wants to make clear through it.

To Whom It May Concern

ABC News needs no introduction. The Disney subsidiary has a long history of conducting surveys to gauge public opinion on various topics. They rely on data analytics for accurate reporting, including insights from their FiveThirtyEight website. However, Rasmussen Reports is now claiming that ABC is warning them of a possible ban from their coverage.

So, what does this ban entail? According to the email provided by Rasmussen Reports, the following would occur:

Such a ban would result in being removed from listing on our main polls page and being excluded from all of our aggregation and election forecasting models. If banned, Rasmussen Reports would also be removed from our historical averages of polls and from our pollster ratings. Your surveys would no longer appear in reporting and we would write an article explaining our reasons for the ban. 

ABC News requested a reply from Rasmussen Reports with satisfactory responses to avoid this fate. However, it was made clear that merely responding may not prevent the ban. They expressed deeper worries involving the polling company’s ties to certain media outlets.

One of ABC News’ concerns revolved around Rasmussen Reports’ relationship with right-leaning Fox News and Steve Bannon’s War Room. They pondered whether these outlets suggest questions for Rasmussen’s polls and if Rasmussen’s pollsters collaborate with them, despite claiming these groups do not sponsor their polls. ABC News was also curious about any potential personal relationships between the company and these figures, which could impact the objectivity of public polls.

Rasmussen Reports has been a target of ABC’s FiveThirtyEight in the past for what it perceives as the polling company having a pro-Republican bias. Rasmussen has chosen to publically release the email it received from ABC News, with what looks like no intention of responding to it. In fact, they actually posted a tweet mocking the entertainment giant. The tweet revealed Rasmussen Reports in the top five pollsters according to FiveThirtyEight. Conservatives have been latching onto this information to go after the Democratic Party.

Sometimes we get fan mail at Rasmussen Reports.

This one was so good we had to publish it.

ABC News: "Answer Our Questions or Else"https://t.co/HhKSYzyNIL pic.twitter.com/0jgtcFed3z

— Rasmussen Reports (@Rasmussen_Poll) June 29, 2023

Will ABC Ban Rasmussen Reports?

ABC News sought clarification on other worries it had in the memo, particularly Rasmussen Reports’ stance on the 2022 Arizona Governor election results. They inquired whether Rasmussen Reports believes the certified results are fraudulent based on their own 2023 survey sponsored by College Republicans. Additionally, ABC News also wanted clarification on how Rasmussen Reports thinks their polls can provide more accurate estimates of election results than the certified counts by secretaries of state.

ABC News raised concerns about the accuracy of Rasmussen’s polls in relation to observable election results. They wondered whether the same people are being contacted multiple times for phone polling and how Rasmussen Reports selects phone numbers. Additionally, ABC News inquired about the process of ensuring diverse representation in Rasmussen’s online surveys.

The email concluded by setting a deadline for Rasmussen Reports to respond or notify ABC News of their intent to reply. Failure to do so would be seen as an acceptance of the grounds for a ban, which would take effect shortly after June 30.

The two companies’ battle is gaining steam on social media. With no plans to respond to ABC, will we be looking at the Disney subsidiary kicking Rasmussen Reports out this weekend?