Sometimes, the truth is also an option.
Let's start from the end: this morning Direct Falls determined its position in the most brutal fire test there is - as the most accurate research and survey company in Israel!
When you lift your head from Excel, you have to admit, there are moments in the life of a surveyor when the numbers are much more than data. They become a test of life. A test of professionalism, understanding, method, judgment, experience, technology, and also of courage: the ability to stand behind what you see in the numbers, in front of all the others from all ends, professionals and experienced, who strongly claim something different.
This election was my first personal test in the new configuration of Direct Falls.
I approached this election system with reverence and with a lot of modesty. Not as an expression from the language and outside, but from a deep understanding of the magnitude of the responsibility and commitment to the customers and the channel that believed in me from the first moment, in a decision that was not built into it. Behind every number we published, there was the commitment to do the most professional work we know how for the viewers and customers, even when the result is not comfortable, even when it is surprising, and especially when it is different from everyone else's - alone in the arena.
In the weeks leading up to the elections, we found ourselves in this place again and again. Our data presented a different picture than that reflected in the other media channels, when sometimes the differences were even very large. As the election day approached, the attention to us also increased. There were questions, there were doubts, there was criticism. This is natural, and even important. Surveys should stand up to scrutiny. Yes, reviewers too.
But criticism and pressure are not a reason to change a professional finding. Along the way we came back and checked ourselves. the data, the assumptions, the models, the methods. We were not looking for the middle ground or the way to get closer to the results of others, but a way to make sure that we are as faithful as possible to the dynamic reality. There is a big difference between the two. And when you are convinced that the work was done correctly, it is your responsibility to publish things as they are, even if at that moment you are the only one saying so.
In the last year we have invested huge sums in upgrading our technological systems in preparation for the elections and in general, systems that are currently the last word in the field of research and surveys.
In these elections, we worked with clients on both sides of the political map, and in front of almost all party leaders in Israel. Quite a few of them tested us, sometimes tried to convince us that we were wrong, but we stood by our professional concept with genius, and God willing, this morning everyone already knows that we were the most faithful to the truth.
Yesterday, at 10:00 p.m., the first moment of truth arrived: the Direct Polls sample broadcast on i24NEWS presented a significantly different picture than that presented by all the other samples, without exception, and above all a picture that met the main test of the election system: the balance of power between the blocs.
We informed the channel captains in advance that we are not going to update the sample throughout the night down or up. We went with the truth that we see to the end from the very first moment.
As the night progressed and the truth results began to accumulate, the picture became clearer. The partial data indicated an impressive match between our sample and the reality at the polling stations, both in the number of Likud mandates and in the division of blocs.
The count is still ongoing, and the picture may change - although not dramatically. You can already see how significant the ability to identify this trend in real time was.
עבורי, זה הרבה מעבר לשאלה מי צדק ומי טעה. זהו אישור לחשיבותה של עצמאות מקצועית. קל יותר להיות חלק מקונצנזוס, או לחילופין מתיבות תהודה. כשהמספרים שלך דומים לצד כזה או אחר, אתה חשוף פחות לביקורת. כשהם שונים, כל טעות עלולה להפוך לכותרת. דווקא משום כך, לאף סוקר אסור לתת לרעשים שמסביב להשפיע על הנתונים שלו. הציבור אינו זקוק לעוד מי שיאמר את מה שכבר נאמר. הוא זקוק למי שיציג בפניו את התמונה המדויקת ביותר שהוא מסוגל להפיק.
I am very proud of the Direct Falls team - in Aviv, Beli, Pinchas, Bikir and many other teams in the envelope. These amazing, talented and hardworking people worked shoulder to shoulder with me for many long months, checked every detail, did not give up on any question or demand, but mostly knew how to stay true to the path - even in moments when it was much more convenient to doubt it.
Special thanks to the captains and employees of the i24NEWS channel who continued to give me their backing and support throughout the last year, even though we were alone in front of everyone.
And a final word to my fellow reviewers: I'm sure you've worked hard and in changing circumstances. You bring with you professional experience, and I am far from underestimating you precisely this morning and despite attempts by interested parties to drag you there. Too bad for the effort, won't happen.
From here, Direct Falls runs with all its might: modestly, seriously, and above all professionally.
-Zuriel Sharon-.