WASHINGTON POST TAKES ANTI-TRUMP BIAS TO A NEW LEVEL

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he mainstream press loves to tell readers that it can be trusted because it employs professional journalists backed by layers of editors. Oh, and they're all unbiased.

So how to explain a recent Washington Post headline, which manages both to misrepresent its own poll and expose the ridiculous extent to which its reporters and editors will go to bash President-elect Donald Trump?

The story is about a Washington Post/ABC News poll that asks, among other things, whether Trump should sell his business to avoid any possible conflicts of interest while president.

Trump has taken steps to avoid these conflicts, although not to the satisfaction of some in the media — many of whom probably wouldn't be satisfied no matter what Trump did.

What did the poll find? It found that most (52%) think the steps Trump has taken are enough to "separate Trump's business interests from his obligations as president." On the other hand, only 42% said that Trump should sell his business.

It would seem that the news here is that most people think Trump has done enough to avoid conflicts of interest involving his company. The Post's poll is in keeping with others that found little public support for the notion that Trump should sell his business to be president.

So what's the Washington Post's headline about its own poll?

"More than 4 in 10 say Trump should sell his businesses — but even more say he shouldn't, poll finds"

Say what? That incredibly awkward and lengthy headline seems designed to put the most negative spin possible on the results.

"More than 4 in 10"! That sounds bad. How many readers stopped there, before trying to understand what exactly the rest of the headline, which comes after the dash, meant?

What's more, the length of the headline means that only the first part is likely to get picked up by those who want to direct traffic to the story, or in search results, as you can see nearby.

The story itself, at least, is more fair. "The poll finds 52% of those surveyed say Trump's decision to hand over control of his businesses to his adult sons and another executive 'is enough' to separate his business interests from his obligations as president."

But even here, the writer puts a negative spin on the results, saying "a somewhat smaller share, 42%, say Trump should sell his business outright." A 10-point spread is not "somewhat smaller." And this spread is even bigger if you count those who had opinion on the matter, since it means that 58% either say he shouldn't sell his business or don't care one way or another.

What's more, the Post doesn't point out to readers that 66% of Democrats surveyed say Trump should sell his business. In contrast, just 81% of Republicans and 56% of independents said Trump shouldn't.

In other words, Democrats are far out of the mainstream on this question, which is just another way of saying that Democrats deeply loathe and distrust Trump. But you'd never know that reading the Post story, since you have to dig down into the poll itself to discover the partisan breakdown.

The Daily Caller, a conservative news site, wrote the proper headline for this story: "Majority Of Voters Support Trump's Business Decision, Poll Finds."

Simple, direct, and as it turns out, unbiased.

If readers can't count on a major newspaper to fairly represent the results of its own Trump poll, why should they trust them to report anything else about Trump in an unbiased way?