Jul 7 2017 — Oleh Iwanyshyn — National Newswatch — While news media tends to focus on Trump’s often silly tweets, a much bigger problem gets short shrift. Public confidence in institutions critical to the preservation of US democracy is deteriorating. These include the intelligence agencies, the justice system and the news media. The loss of confidence is the direct result of Trump’s repeated accusations […]
Mar 23 2017 — Oleh Iwanyshyn — National Newswatch — How does a patently false claim from the lips (or tweet) of Donald Trump get legitimized to the point where many Americans think it’s true? In one word–Television. Television is how most Americans get their news. Six out of every 10 Americans say it’s their main source of news. Perhaps more relevant, for those over […]
Jan 27 2017 — Oleh Iwanyshyn — National Newswatch — President Trump seems always on the attack against news media. He claims they are dishonest because they wrongly assert that many of his statements are untrue — that, in fact, Trump is dishonest. The evidence opposing his claim, however, is overwhelming. When the Toronto Star assigned its reporter Daniel Dale to document Trump’s lying during […]
Jan 9 2017 — Oleh Iwanyshyn — National Newswatch — Did the Putin-inspired hacks of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) tilt the voting results in Trump’s favor? Seventeen US intelligence agencies believe Russia and in particular Putin interfered in the elections. Republicans are careful to say there is no direct evidence proving it is the reason why Trump won. That may be true. However, from […]
Apr 18 2016 — Oleh Iwanyshyn — National Newswatch — The Republican Party is petrified. Not because the leading presidential candidate Donald Trump has declared war on it. Nor is it because he is not a real conservative. And it’s not even because of his rash statements that many in the Party see as racist, xenophobic, misogynistic or just plain nuts (like arming South Korea […]
Dec 21 2015 — Oleh Iwanyshyn — National Newswatch — Both liberal and conservative pundits are baffled by the resilience shown in Donald Trump’s popularity despite his outrageous statements that would have sunk any other presidential candidate. A recent CBS/NYTimes poll shows Trump with 35% popularity, more than twice as high as the next most popular opponent, Ted Cruz, with 16%. Trump has for the […]
Dec 21 2015 — Oleh Iwanyshyn — National Newswatch — Both liberal and conservative pundits are baffled by the resilience shown in Donald Trump’s popularity despite his outrageous statements that would have sunk any other presidential candidate. A recent CBS/NYTimes poll shows Trump with 35% popularity, more than twice as high as the next most popular opponent, Ted Cruz, with 16%. Trump has for the […]
Aug 27 2015 — Oleh Iwanyshyn — National Newswatch — It’s disappointing when Western news media promulgate Russian polls touting the unbelievably high popularity of President Putin as if it was a true reflection of Russian sentiment. But to see one of the most respected US pollsters add credibility to such questionable results is perverse. Why should we in the West promote Russian propaganda? The […]
May 29 2015 — Oleh Iwanyshyn — National Newswatch — Imagine this. You’re Russian. You’re living in a dictatorship. You get a phone call. An anonymous voice on the other end tells you it’s a poll. The question – Do you approve of Putin’s activities as President of Russia. You think to yourself. This guy holds all the power. He is ex-KGB. And he doesn’t […]
Jun 23 2014 — Oleh Iwanyshyn — Hill Times — At first glance, it seems like public opinion polls delivered a poor prediction of the Ontario provincial election outcome. On the day of the election, poll aggregator Éric Grenier described the trend as “likely Liberal, possibly PC victory” with “a likely return to a minority legislature.” While admittedly there was a lot of scatter in […]
Apr 7 2014 — Oleh Iwanyshyn — National Newswatch — While there has been a huge amount of conjecture on what motivated Putin to invade Crimea and where his expansionist ambitions will take Russia, precious little evidence to support such conjecture is offered. Was this a strategic action planned long in advance, or was it an opportunistic, tactical decision capitalizing on the turmoil of the […]
Dec 3 2013 — Oleh Iwanyshyn — Hill Times — Why are American polls more successful in predicting election results than Canadian polls? The question isn’t merely an attention-getter. Soon there will be general elections held in Quebec, Ontario, and nationally. Polls, as usual, will play a big role in how the media cover the elections, and, ultimately, how people vote. If the polls prove to be as […]