The office of New York attorney general Andrew Cuomo “said it planned to file a lawsuit this week against Arbitron, the company that compiles the data, because of concerns that minority listeners were not being adequately represented. … Recruiting and retaining enough respondents from these demographic groups [blacks and Hispanics] has proved difficult for Arbitron, leading some stations that cater to urban and ethnic audiences to claim that they are not being sufficiently counted.” (Brian Stelter, “Cuomo to Sue Radio Ratings Company, Claiming Minorities Are Underrepresented”, New York Times, Oct. 7).
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Not resting on his laurels after having been unmasked as the father of the mortgage crisis, Mr Cuomo feels it is once again necessary to joust with an non-issue windmill. Last time I checked Arbitron was a private company and as such only owes accuracy to those who pay for their services. What’s next, sue Apple because suburban kids aren’t buying enough black and Hispanic music for their iPods?
Arbitron is basically a polling company. So, it’s time to sue pollsters for undercounting minority voters…..or better yet, undercounting those ineligible to vote.
Is the lawsuit for damages? If so, what are the damages? Is it for injuctive relief? If so, what’s a court going to tell them? Count better? Ah! maybe it was brought for the sole purpose of harrassing the company. Or maybe it was brought as a collusive publicity stunt (I’ve never heard of this pollster until just now).
Sounds like this will result in an apology and a “good faith” donation to some group that Cuomo indirectly controls. This seems the norm for NY AGs