Breaking: Pollster Not Found.

First, check the pollster exists. That is now, apparently, a regulatory tip.

FCC Chair Brendan Carr warned broadcasters that airing fabricated election polls could run afoul of their license obligations, citing the FCC's rules against news distortion and broadcast hoaxes. Journalists and broadcasters, he said, have been amplifying polls without telling the public that those polls lack a scientific, accurate, or even real basis.

The warning followed Wedgewood Polls admitting its polling data was entirely fabricated — a self-described social experiment in how easily an invented firm gains traction. The New York Times removed 15 Wedgewood surveys from its polling tracker after the admission.

So the food-safety label era of polling has arrived: this poll may contain imaginary pollsters. The averages were real. The inputs were not. Somewhere, a polling average just lost 15 data points and gained nothing — and the only thing standing between the audience and the next invented firm is a chairman reminding broadcasters to read the label.

The polling average: now with 0% polling.

The underlying reporting is filed in the Evidence Locker: Washington Examiner (Oct. 22, 2026); Poynter (Oct. 22, 2026).