Suchergebnisse

Examines the response of the US news media to the perceived results of the 2000 presidential election. A history of reporting election outcomes & acceleration of broadcasting results is described with attention to the impact of technological advances. The formations of the News Election Service & Voter Research and Surveys & their merger into a single election day newsgathering organization, the Voter News Service (VNS), are summarized. The 2000 election mistakes by the VNS, the media networks, & the electoral system itself are identified with commentary on post-election analysis & reforms. The network recommendations are detailed -- gather more & better data, revise rules for calling election results, clarify reporting results, & improve management of VNS. The prospects for improved news media coverage of elections & calling of electoral results are surmised. 3 Tables, 3 Figures. L. Collins Leigh

Since at least the early 1800s, American journalists have called elections, telling who won & why, while at the same time trying to beat the political & journalistic opposition. Arguing that what happened on election night 2000 was due to the news media's fundamental change of their approach to election coverage is factually & functionally wrong. The author presents a brief outline of technologies used by news services, the creation of VNS (Voter News Service), the 2000 election & the FL mistakes, the postelection evaluation, & the future of election-night coverage. She maintains that calling elections is not magic, but has too often been presented as such. As a result, many reporters & viewers have held a misguided belief in the news media's election omniscience. 13 References. E. Sanchez