The latest strike by resident doctors began on Friday 14 November. That morning, the headline of the lead story on the front page of the Times proclaimed: “Five days of NHS strikes opposed by most doctors”.

The story began: “Most junior doctors do not support Friday’s strike, a poll has revealed as Wes Streeting attacked the British Medical Association for going ‘against the wishes’ of its members.” The trouble is that the poll showed no such thing.

It was conducted by Savanta, a reputable survey research company. Question nine, which asked doctors whether they supported or opposed the strike, found that as many as 69% backed it, while only 12% were opposed.

However, those figures appeared nowhere in the Times story. It reported a different question, question 10, which asked whether the British Medical Association should call off the strike if the NHS trained thousands more doctors, prioritised graduates with NHS experience and covered the costs of various training fees.

Had both questions been reported, Times readers would have been given a significant insight into the current anger of the striking doctors, set against the prospect of a future settlement based on proposals advanced by the health secretary. Indeed, it........

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