Publication of opinion poll findings is a subject that arouses strong passions. Established democracies take quite contrary positions on the issue, with France, for example, continuing to prohibit publication in the period immediately before an election, while in the United States media coverage of opinion polls is regarded as an integral part of free speech in elections. The problem is that opinion poll results - like almost any other form of expression - are not just the reflection of people's views but may also shape the views of others. That is, people may be influenced in how they vote by what they have learned from an opinion poll... or what they think they have learned.
For this reason, laws or regulations on media coverage of elections may attempt to control how (or even whether) opinion polls are reported. In Montenegro, for example, publicly-owned media are forbidden to publicize the results of opinion polls or any other projection of the election results. On election day, it is even forbidden to publicize the results of previous elections. See Media Monitoring - Bosnia.
However, a total ban on reporting opinion poll findings, whether or not desirable, is scarcely practical. France has long had a ban on the reporting of opinion polls during elections (although not at other times). In the 1997 legislative elections some newspapers broke this regulation. They included Le Parisien and La Republique des Pyrennees. Liberation got round the ban by putting the findings of an opinion poll on its Internet site, which is linked to the Tribune de Geneve in Switzerland. France Soir followed this by publishing a poll before the second round of voting took place.60
This seems a fairly clear case of a law becoming ineffective once it has fallen into disrepute - despite the fact that it had been respected for many years. In the UK, where there is a voluntary practice of not reporting opinion polls on the day of elections, this restriction is widely respected.
With opinion polls, more than most other issues, much hinges on how professionally the findings are reported. The Montenegrin position of imposing a total ban on the public media's reporting opinion polls might find some favour in a situation where distorted reporting could materially affect the outcome of the elections. Generally, however, this is an issue that is best addressed by applying a light touch and encouraging the media to develop their own standards for reporting. The British Broadcasting Corporation, for example, has clear internal guidelines on reporting opinion polls that have been applied effectively for many years. (See Voluntary Guidelines on Reporting Opinion Polls - United Kingdom and United Kingdom: BBC guidelines on election coverage.)
For further discussion, see Coverage of Opinion Polls.
