Digesting 2024 Election Polls: How the Media Reports and Decodes the Numbers

Harvard Data Science Review Podcast

The upcoming U.S. presidential race arrives at a time when many Americans are grappling with questions about poll accuracy and data reliability. This month, HDSR is joined by journalists Colby Hall and Leland Vittert for an in-depth look at how the media uses data to report and analyze elections and what past elections can teach us about 2024. We’ll discuss which data points are essential, how technology is reshaping polling and political reporting, what the biggest challenges are that the media faces when covering elections today compared to a decade ago, and which voter demographics could sway the 2024 election results in unexpected ways. Join us as we dive into these pressing questions and more on the Harvard Data Science Review Podcast.

Our guests:

• Colby Hall, Peabody Award-winning television producer, founding editor of Mediate.com, and media contributor to NewsNation since March 2023
• Leland Vittert, chief Washington anchor at NewsNation and host of On Balance with Leland Vittert