[sverhagen]

Eventually they'll figure out at what street corner to stand to find people with the leanings they want to film, if they're intent on coloring the reporting. At some point you'll also have to let go and trust the reporter or the outlet they work for, which admittedly is an increasingly challenging decision, these days.

[rwmj]

They don't need to do that. Interviewing people on the street already selects for the kind of people who wander around shopping malls in the middle of a weekday, ie those who don't work 9-5, very much not a cross-section of society. The sooner vox pops disappear altogether the better.

[Fatnino]

I got interviewed for one of these man in the street things for a local newspaper. I had just completed jury duty and was about to grab an early lunch and head into work. The reporter paraphrased my words very slightly when it went to print but the intent and meaning was the same so no complaints from me.

[medstrom]

Don't even have to do that, literally everyone passing them by could have been instructed on what to say, out-of-view.

If there's a solution it's probably something akin to research preregistration.

[dagw]

If there's a solution

Isn't what you're asking for just polling?

[medstrom]

Aren't we trying to solve the trustworthiness of street interviews?

[iso1210]

You can't. They are unrepresentative and meaningless as a means to inform.