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Ariel Edwards-Levy

@aedwardslevy.bsky.social

38K followers 610 following 4.5K posts

Polling editor at CNN, keeping (cross)tabs on public opinion and the news. I like puns.

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Ariel Edwards-Levy @aedwardslevy.bsky.social · Mar 24

Excited to share some tips for writing about polls for anyone coming in cold to the subject!

(Pictured: a thing on which pollsters are probably not calling you these days).

Ryan Teague Beckwith @ryanbeckwith.bsky.social · Mar 24

How do you read a poll? CNN polling editor Ariel Edwards-Levy walks you through it yourfirstbyline.substack.com/p/how-to-rea...

How to Read a Poll

CNN polling editor Ariel Edwards-Levy walks you through everything you need to know.

yourfirstbyline.substack.com

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Ariel Edwards-Levy @aedwardslevy.bsky.social · 9h

nocrastination

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Ariel Edwards-Levy @aedwardslevy.bsky.social · 9h

Currently leading CNN homepage:

DOJ indicts NY attorney general who defeated Trump in court

Attorney General Letitia James speaks during a press conference in New York, on February 16, 2024, following a verdict against Donald Trump in his civil fraud trial.

She is the second Trump foe to be indicted in two weeks as the president continues to pursue charges against his opponents

Trump-loyalist brought charges after other attorneys voiced concerns

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Ariel Edwards-Levy @aedwardslevy.bsky.social · 10h

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Ariel Edwards-Levy @aedwardslevy.bsky.social · 15h

(This seems testable, cc media scholars)

Ariel Edwards-Levy @aedwardslevy.bsky.social · 15h

Totally get why people dislike media using "experts say [uncontroversial fact]" framing rather than making the judgment call themselves, but given the state of media trust, wonder if there isn't at least an argument that the former reads as more credible: don't take it from us, these people know

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Ariel Edwards-Levy @aedwardslevy.bsky.social · 15h

www.cnn.com/2025/10/07/u...
www.cnn.com/2025/09/30/u...
www.cnn.com/2025/09/30/p...

Protests in Portland

Trump, talking about the city of Portland, falsely claimed “your place is burning down” and that “unless they’re playing false tapes, this looked like World War II.” We’re not sure what “tapes” Trump has seen, but it’s simply not true that the city is burning down. While there have been some unruly protests near an Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in the city this year – and protesters were arrested in June for allegedly starting fires there – the broader city has been functioning as usual, and even the situation around the ICE building is generally calmer than it was in June.

CNN’s Andy Rose noted in an article Tuesday that Trump began publicly floating the idea of deploying troops to Portland this year on the same day that Fox News, of which Trump is a frequent viewer, aired a story that mixed recent footage of standoffs at the ICE facility with five-year-old footage of rioting in Portland during a period of national unrest in 2020.

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Ariel Edwards-Levy @aedwardslevy.bsky.social · 15h

Why not use your platform to highlight the kind of coverage you want to see instead of repeatedly claiming that nobody is doing it?

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Ariel Edwards-Levy @aedwardslevy.bsky.social · 15h

bsky.app/profile/case...

Michael McDonald @electproject.bsky.social · 16h

Trump says a major US city is a war zone that is burning to the ground and our incurious media are not providing live coverage of this unfolding catastrophe

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Ariel Edwards-Levy @aedwardslevy.bsky.social · 16h

cc UK pollster friends

Farrah Bostic @farrahbostic.bsky.social · 16h

Me too!

(I’m still trying to get a British pollster on the show so I can ask them what this is like)

a group of women are standing around a table talking to each other . one of the women is wearing a pink shirt .

ALT: a group of women are standing around a table talking to each other . one of the women is wearing a pink shirt .

media.tenor.com

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Ariel Edwards-Levy @aedwardslevy.bsky.social · 16h

I am very envious of some of the British infrastructure around survey transparency!

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Ariel Edwards-Levy @aedwardslevy.bsky.social · 16h

BUT THERE'S A CHART, LOOK AT THE CHART

i don't care

Ariel Edwards-Levy @aedwardslevy.bsky.social · 16h

if you write an article, report, fact sheet, infographic, etc. about polling you've conducted or commissioned and do not include a link to a topline document with full question wording and frequencies, please know that you make me, personally, unhappy

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Ariel Edwards-Levy @aedwardslevy.bsky.social · 1d

www.cnn.com/2025/10/07/u...
www.cnn.com/2025/09/30/u...
www.oregonlive.com/crime/2025/1...
katu.com/news/local/2...

Michael McDonald @electproject.bsky.social · 1d

I challenge the media to show pictures of Portland. Go to a store with glass. That's all you have to do

They can't do it because it would offend Deal Leader

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 1d

Trump: "I don't know what could be worse than Portland. You don't even have stores anymore. They don't even put glass up. They put plywood on their windows."

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Ariel Edwards-Levy @aedwardslevy.bsky.social · 1d

the absolute funniest thing about this is shifting from whole numbers on the initial ballot to tenths-place on the informed ballot in order to claim that one number that rounds to 46 is "a lead" over another number that rounds to 46

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Ariel Edwards-Levy @aedwardslevy.bsky.social · 1d

Featuring some fresh Pew data:
www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/...

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Ariel Edwards-Levy @aedwardslevy.bsky.social · 1d

This x100

So many of you do work that I deeply respect and/or seem extremely cool on a personal level, and yet I have finite time to read posts!

A constant struggle!

Joshua J. Friedman @joshuajfriedman.com · 1d

The "follow" dichotomy I always struggle with is "I want to see every single thing you post" vs. "I want you to know that I like and respect you." My Following feed is so overstuffed as it is, but I hate the idea that people I don't follow back might think that I don't appreciate them!

Rose 🌹 @rose.bsky.team · 1d

The "follow" button confounds "I'm looking at your content" and "I endorse this content." We need two different ways to signal the difference between the two.

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Ariel Edwards-Levy @aedwardslevy.bsky.social · 1d

ah, a lawngitudinal study

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Ariel Edwards-Levy @aedwardslevy.bsky.social · 1d

i thought that "being able to identify a pollster from their topline formatting" was my worst party trick, but I just managed to identify a questionnaire as SSRS solely on the basis of the programming notes, so

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Ariel Edwards-Levy @aedwardslevy.bsky.social · 1d

a penacea, if you will

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Ariel Edwards-Levy @aedwardslevy.bsky.social · 1d

beaufalo beaufalo beaufalo beaufalo beaufalo beaufalo

www.cnn.com/2025/10/06/a...

A beauty pageant for buffaloes in Thailand raises status of the humble animal | CNN

It was 5-year-old Tod’s first time competing in a beauty pageant and the bright red interior of his ears turned out and popped against his black fur.

www.cnn.com

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Reposted by Ariel Edwards-Levy

Kevin Collins @kwcollins.bsky.social · 1d

Among other things, the prevelances of these responses should inform how confident you assess respondents who provide other answers are in their views. I love @mattgraham.bsky.social's paper on this: m-graham.com/papers/Graha...

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Ariel Edwards-Levy @aedwardslevy.bsky.social · 1d

ha, yeah, I definitely use it more for "things that look interesting and I want to read at some point but I won't even remember later unless it appears in front of me" but I also do make fairly aggressive use of tab hibernation, tab groups, etc

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Ariel Edwards-Levy @aedwardslevy.bsky.social · 1d

but what if I need it later

Ariel Edwards-Levy @aedwardslevy.bsky.social · 1d

occasionally restore previous session fails to work and the combined feelings of horror and liberation are really something

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Ariel Edwards-Levy @aedwardslevy.bsky.social · 1d

a) incredible
b) do you have to explain tom petty to your students these days