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Political handicapping

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137:, 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. 25: 233: 167:. 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. 170:
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
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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:
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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.
163:. 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 208: 178:: 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. 97: 274: 69: 46: 240: 218: 76: 153:
as a ploy to lure in audiences and tighten polls during election cycles by discrediting candidates favored to win and hyping
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Horse race coverage is considered by some to cause voters to change their actual perceptions on a candidate in a sort of
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In Defense of (the Right Kind of) Horse Race Journalism
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A horse race style of article allows for the use of
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News process of trying to predict election outcomes
285: 268: 149:It is argued that news sources tend to use 53:. Unsourced material may be challenged and 275: 261: 117:Learn how and when to remove this message 286: 227: 51:adding citations to reliable sources 18: 13: 14: 315: 202: 141:Criticisms of horse race coverage 231: 23: 209:Political Glossary: Horse Race 1: 247:. You can help Knowledge by 7: 185: 135:handicapping the horse race 10: 320: 226: 66:"Political handicapping" 299:Journalism terminology 294:Political terminology 239:This article about a 219:Hyping The Horse Race 151:horse race journalism 304:Political term stubs 47:improve this article 256: 255: 127: 126: 119: 101: 311: 277: 270: 263: 235: 228: 122: 115: 111: 108: 102: 100: 59: 27: 19: 319: 318: 314: 313: 312: 310: 309: 308: 284: 283: 282: 281: 224: 205: 188: 143: 123: 112: 106: 103: 60: 58: 44: 28: 17: 12: 11: 5: 317: 307: 306: 301: 296: 280: 279: 272: 265: 257: 254: 253: 241:political term 236: 222: 221: 216: 211: 204: 203:External links 201: 200: 199: 194: 187: 184: 183: 182: 179: 172: 168: 165:spoiler effect 157: 142: 139: 125: 124: 31: 29: 22: 15: 9: 6: 4: 3: 2: 316: 305: 302: 300: 297: 295: 292: 291: 289: 278: 273: 271: 266: 264: 259: 258: 252: 250: 246: 242: 237: 234: 230: 229: 225: 220: 217: 215: 212: 210: 207: 206: 198: 195: 193: 190: 189: 180: 177: 173: 169: 166: 162: 161:vicious cycle 158: 156: 152: 148: 147: 146: 138: 136: 132: 121: 118: 110: 99: 96: 92: 89: 85: 82: 78: 75: 71: 68: –  67: 63: 62:Find sources: 56: 52: 48: 42: 41: 37: 32:This article 30: 26: 21: 20: 249:expanding it 238: 223: 176:weasel words 144: 134: 130: 128: 113: 104: 94: 87: 80: 73: 61: 45:Please help 33: 197:Swingometer 288:Categories 131:horse race 129:The terms 77:newspapers 155:underdogs 107:July 2017 34:does not 192:Pollster 186:See also 171:itself. 91:scholar 55:removed 40:sources 93:  86:  79:  72:  64:  243:is a 98:JSTOR 84:books 245:stub 133:and 70:news 38:any 36:cite 49:by 290:: 276:e 269:t 262:v 251:. 120:) 114:( 109:) 105:( 95:· 88:· 81:· 74:· 57:. 43:.

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"Political handicapping"
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horse race journalism
underdogs
vicious cycle
spoiler effect
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Pollster
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Political Glossary: Horse Race
In Defense of (the Right Kind of) Horse Race Journalism
Hyping The Horse Race
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