The commercial pressures on media outlets during elections have become immense in an extraordinarily competitive and fractured news environment. But over the next few days, editors, producers, reporters, and analysts need to act with extreme caution.
On Nov. 7, 2000, hasty media projections threw election night into chaos. After calling Florida early for the Democratic candidate, Vice President Al Gore, the networks pulled back under pressure and later switched their projection to a win for the Republican, George W. Bush. It was a catastrophic failure of news judgment: “We don’t just have egg in our face. We’ve got omelet all over our suits,” NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw quipped.
The results were consequential. Republicans were able to frame the subsequent recount as an effort by Democrats to undo Bush’s victory rather than an effort to actually figure out who won.
In 2020, the fact that the counting of absentee ballots took several days created media space for unfounded allegations of corruption at polling places, which Republican candidate Donald Trump capitalized on to sow doubt among the electorate. Too often, outlets were willing to cover these stories before fact-checking started, and social media created endless space to spread disinformation.
In the coming hours, the media must do its reporting carefully, slowly, deliberately, and judiciously. The instinct to be first must not outweigh the imperative of being accurate.
This post is part of FP’s live coverage with global updates and analysis throughout the U.S. election. Follow along here.