Staff Reports
Median Strategies quietly confessed what the rest of us suspected: its splashy “polls” showing Mayor Karen Bass and State Representative Francesca Hong in big leads were not real. The operation shut down, withdrew its releases and called the whole thing a “short-term social experiment” about how fake polling spreads through the political information ecosystem. Translation: someone set off a misinformation firecracker to see how quickly the media and campaigns would say “wow.”
Median Strategies admits the polls were bogus
The little-known firm posted a blunt statement: “All previously published polling releases have been withdrawn and should not be cited or treated as genuine polling data.” One claimed a 12‑point lead for Mayor Karen Bass over City Councilmember Nithya Raman based on 560 respondents and a ±4.1% margin. Another put Francesca Hong up by roughly 20–23 points in Wisconsin — a number that looks especially silly now that Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley narrowly beat Hong in the primary. Median Strategies even conceded, “We got Wisconsin wrong — and by quite a margin too.” If this was a social experiment, it succeeded in exposing how gullible our political ecosystem can be.
Why the fake poll mattered
These weren’t harmless numbers on a junk website. The bogus Bass poll was amplified — Mayor Bass posted it, then deleted the post when reporters started asking questions. Campaigns, reporters and social feeds treated the “poll” as news long enough to shape narratives and maybe even fundraising or donor chatter. That’s the whole point of the experiment, apparently: plant a phony story, watch the spin cycle run. The end result was confusion and, for some voters, misleading signals about which candidates were actually competitive.
Who should answer for the damage?
Accountability needs to run in three directions. First, the anonymous creators of Median Strategies owe the public an explanation: who funded this, who ran it, and why? Median Strategies says no one profited, but opacity is now part of the problem. Second, newsrooms and reporters need to stop treating every poll release like a press release from a respectable source. Basic verification of methodology and operator identity is journalism 101. Third, campaigns — including Mayor Bass’s team — should have better vetting rules before amplifying polling claims. As the Bass campaign put it: “Any bad faith attempts to influence elections should be investigated and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.” That’s not theatrical; it’s common sense.
How to stop fake polls and election misinformation
We can fix this without becoming speech police. Require greater transparency: pollsters should disclose methodology, sample frame, who paid for the survey, and a verifiable contact. Media outlets and aggregators should flag first‑time pollsters and demand documentation before amplification. Social platforms can slow the spread by adding labels and delaying trending promotion for unverified polls. And professional associations should push rapid vetting standards for surprising poll results. If we don’t harden the systems that spread these fake polls, expect more political stunts dressed up as “experiments” and more campaigns briefly celebrating fake leads.
Final thought
Median Strategies pulled the curtain back on a real problem: a political media ecosystem that too often mistakes noise for news. Call it a lesson, call it a warning — just don’t call it real polling.
