Markets Are Turbulent as Election Results Roll In: Live Updates

It’s a thrill to be the first news organization to report the results of a presidential race. But no journalist wants to be stuck with the job of reversing a blown call. That’s how it went for NBC’s Tom Brokaw and other news anchors in 2000, after they reported that Al Gore had gotten more votes than George W. Bush in Florida, the state that would decide the election. “We don’t just have egg on our face,” Mr. Brokaw told viewers. “We have an omelet.”

At the end of a 2020 campaign complicated by significant early voting and unfounded claims by President Trump that the election has been “rigged,” journalists have pledged caution going into Tuesday night. They remember all too well how Mr. Trump defied the polls four years ago, and they do not want to be caught off guard off again.

With their interactive maps and coifed pundits, the broadcast networks and cable news outlets are set up to deliver some spectacle along with the news — but they have vowed to be prudent. “Frankly, the well-being of the country depends on us being cautious, disciplined and unassailably correct,” Noah Oppenheim, the NBC News president, said in a recent interview. “We are committed to getting this right.”

Susan Zirinsky, the president of CBS News, said the team she oversees will try to manage the expectations of impatient viewers. “We’re preparing the audience that this might not be over in one night,” Ms. Zirinsky said.

In the United States — which, unlike many other countries, does not have a national electoral commission — the role of projecting the winners of presidential elections falls to the news media. Here’s how it will work:

Each TV network makes its own state-by-state determinations. ABC, CBS, CNN and NBC, as part of the group of news organizations belonging to the National Election Pool, base their calls on data gathered by Edison Research. The Associated Press, which has assigned 4,000 reporters to collect information from county clerks in 50 states, conducts its own count. Fox News, starting in 2018, has relied on a model that draws from data provided by The A.P.

Major news organizations, including NPR, PBS and the newspaper chains Gannett and McClatchy, wait for The A.P. to call races before they report results. Other outlets, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post, use data from The A.P. to help them make their own determinations. Reuters will deliver results in collaboration with the National Election Pool.

The A.P. has been known for its cautious approach since it started tracking the vote in 1848, when Zachary Taylor won the presidency. In 2000, The A.P. resisted the temptation to declare a winner in the race between Mr. Gore and Mr. Bush.

“If there’s no way for the trailing candidate to catch up, no legal way, no mathematical way, then the race is decided, essentially,” Sally Buzbee, The A.P.’s executive editor, said. “And if there is any uncertainty, or if there are enough votes out to change the result, then we don’t call the race.”

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/live/2020/11/03/business/us-economy-coronavirus