Fake Poll by Median Strategies Flops With Major Aggregators, Exposed as ‘Social Experiment’
Updated
Updated · The Washington Post · Aug 20
Fake Poll by Median Strategies Flops With Major Aggregators, Exposed as ‘Social Experiment’
3 articles · Updated · The Washington Post · Aug 20
Summary
Median Strategies circulated a fraudulent poll that drew some media attention but failed to gain traction with major poll aggregators.
A reporter exposed the poll, while mainstream trackers largely rejected it rather than incorporating its numbers into their averages.
Median Strategies later described the episode as a “social experiment,” framing the fake release as a test of how media outlets and poll-watchers vet polling data.
The episode highlighted a split in the polling ecosystem: established aggregators screened out the bogus survey, while parts of the broader media chain still gave it visibility.