As Outfoxed convincingly argued, Bush's victory in the 2000 election was helped in large part by an early claim by FOX News that he had won. As a result of the controversy, news networks have switched from exit polls administered by the Voter News Service consortium to a new system called the National Election Pool. ABC, the Associated Press, CBS, CNN, FOX News and NBC News will all draw their conclusions from the same data provided by Edison Media Research and Mitofsky International. In addition to helping networks to predict a winner, the exit polls will serve as a gauge for vote tampering if the reported numbers differ significantly from the vote counts.
But if there's anything this election season has taught us, it's that facts are mutable, and spin does not require them. Media observers are still keeping a keen eye on the networks and the ways in which their predictions might shape today's outcome.
To keep pace with the networks' calls, visit Media Matters for America's Election Tracker 2004. The media research group will be "monitoring each broadcast and cable news network and will provide real-time updates throughout the night as states are called for President Bush and Senator Kerry."
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Jessica Clark is a writer, editor and researcher, with more than 15 years of experience spanning commercial, educational, independent and public media production. Currently she is the Research Director for American University’s Center for Social Media. She also writes a monthly column for PBS’ MediaShift on new directions in public media. She is the author, with Tracy Van Slyke, of Beyond the Echo Chamber: Reshaping Politics Through Networked Progressive Media (2010, New Press).
