Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: Media, particularly electronic media, needs to introspect about the expectations that arise due to exit polls, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar said as he criticised TV channels for displaying results on counting day before official counting even begins in a bid to justify their exit polls.
“Because of expectations set by exit polls, a huge distortion is created. This is an issue that needs selfintrospection, especially for electronic media,” he said as he called on self-regulatory bodies such as the National Broadcasters Association (NBSA) to regulate the media entities.
Kumar said that the Election Commission of India was not responsible for governing exit polls under the law but over the last few elections, a trend had emerged wherein news channels start displaying results from 8 am in the morning even as official counting begins at 8:30 am, as per Kumar.
Because of the exit polls and the initial results, by the time the final results start coming in, there is a mismatch, he said. “And that mismatch can lead to serious issues sometimes. The gap between expectation and achievement is nothing but frustration,” he said.
