To everyone reading in the U.S.: Happy Election Day! Enough with the polls and prognostications. Now we all vote and watch the votes get counted. It's a beautiful day, no matter how nervous you might feel... |
Putting democracy to the test |
Quick – choose a memorable moment from this presidential election year. What did you pick? Maybe Jake Tapper and Dana Bash's CNN presidential debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump? Maybe Kamala Harris's DNC convention speech, or Trump's sit-down with Joe Rogan, or his garbage truck photo op? This campaign has been chock full of made-for-TV spectacles and surprises.
But if I had to pick just one moment, I'd choose the day in August when Trump claimed that the VP's very real crowd was faked. "She 'A.I.'d' it, and showed a massive 'crowd' of so-called followers, BUT THEY DIDN’T EXIST!" Trump falsely shouted on Truth Social.
The episode encapsulated so much about this election. Trump's use of social media to spread conspiracy theories; an insistence on creating his own reality; a disbelief that his Democratic rival could draw a big crowd at all; a disregard for the fact-checkers who debunked his post.
Plus, I bet many of you have already forgotten about AI-crowd-size-gate. That's been another trademark feature of this campaign: exhaustion!
Reality itself has been contested during this election year. "The refusal to accept basic, verifiable facts has some observers concerned about a repeat of 2020 false claims of a stolen election if Trump loses," NPR wrote while debunking Trump's crowd size lie. It can be incredibly dispiriting for journalists. Imagine trying to convince a skeptic that the Harris rally you covered did, in fact, have a crowd. But it also reaffirms the importance of journalism to vet and verify information.
>> One last point: Trump was scratching at something deep when he said the Harris crowd "didn't exist." On this Election Day, some Trump fans find it unfathomable that Harris could win. Frankly, it's also true that some Harris fans find it hard to believe that Trump could regain power. But someone is about to win. This week, America's TV networks and newswires are like mediators, helping the country accept whatever the result will be.
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Local outlets are listening |
In swing states like Georgia, North Carolina and Michigan, local journalists have doubled as campaign experts his year, covering presidential candidate rallies and interviewing voters by the dozen. So I asked seven swing state editors and reporters about what they've been experiencing. Here are some of the answers.
In Georgia, "months of reporting and listening have told us this: Georgia voters are largely dissatisfied with our country's direction," Atlanta Journal-Constitution editor-in-chief Leroy Chapman Jr. said, predicting that it will "factor heavily into how Georgians vote."
In NC, Rana Cash, the executive editor of the Charlotte Observer, said Harris voters "have a sense of enthusiasm and hope that she's able to replicate what Obama did in 2008." But the enthusiasm for Trump is palpable too.
In Nevada, Las Vegas Review-Journal politics reporter Jessica Hill said she has also detected "a lot of election fatigue."
Yes, some are engaged, but others "are trying to tune it out."
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This is the part I'm obsessed with: Deescalation. Healing. Rebuilding. As The Dispatch recently asked: "After this election, how do we live with one another?"
David McCumber, the executive editor of the Arizona Daily Star, told me he senses voters' anxieties through letters to the editor. "There's an apocalyptic cast to this election – writers on both sides are saying the future of the world hinges on it," he said.
Yes, but we can't overlook all that we have in common, even as we argue over politics. In Wisconsin, Mark Treinen, editor of The Capital Times in Madison, told me some national coverage of his state has defined (and divided) entire communities by their presidential preferences. "That's really not my experience having lived and worked in many of those towns," he said. "I'm not saying there aren’t stark differences of opinion, and some overzealous conduct, but generally people are living and working around each other with little conflict."
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CNN's marathon special is beginning at 4 p.m. ET. I'll have Anderson Cooper and co. on my big screen TV, with lots of smaller screens showing some of these:
>> Amazon's first foray into live news, an election night special anchored by Brian Williams, is starting at 5 p.m. ET. Williams talked with The AP's David Bauder about the experiment.
>> For the first time, The AP is producing a digital livestream for election night, tapping into the dozens of live cameras and hundreds of journalists it has across the country. Meg Kinnard will anchor the stream.
>> The Bulwark is holding an election night viewing party on YouTube starting at 7:30 p.m. The Dispatch's three-hour live stream starts at 10 p.m. The Young Turks is streaming all evening.
>> Most of the late-night shows are preempted tonight, but "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" is going live at 11 p.m.
>> Peacock is applying its "Multiview" experience from the Paris Olympics to election night, complete with a "Kornacki cam."
>> C-SPAN is planning 17 hours of live coverage with "no commercials, no pundits, no spin," just the best live feeds.
>> TVNewser has a comprehensive guide to TV coverage plans across major broadcast, cable and digital platforms. And if you're a geek like me, you'll also enjoy NewscastStudio's peeks at the election studios. Some networks are using virtual set extensions and AR/VR technology this week.
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I was texting this morning with Sam Feist, CNN's longtime Washington bureau chief, who departed the network earlier this year to take over C-SPAN. I asked how he stays sane on Election Day. "By being patient and trusting in the system," Feist said. "Counting ballots takes a long time and there is no rush for news organizations to call the election – especially when the race is close. It’s not a competition. And in honor of our beautiful very purple nation, I always wear a purple tie on Election Day."
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AI bot's real-time results |
Generative AI's impacts on the election have been relatively muted, notwithstanding that AI crowd size lie I mentioned above. In the coming days, "Perplexity and ChatGPT will both answer most of your election-related questions. Google, however, is taking a more cautious approach," Business Insider reports.
Here's another option: Decision Desk HQ, which provides election data and race calls to media outlets, has opened up its API to AI companies through the TollBit platform. An AI search engine called You.com will use that access to provide real-time answers to users' questions. "This shows how AI agents can deliver reliable information when they're connected to the right sources," You.com co-founder Richard Socher says...
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Oprah delivers final warning |
Harris's final rally, at the famed 'Rocky' steps in Philly, wrapped up a few minutes before midnight. Harris was introduced by talk show mogul Oprah Winfrey, who has flexed her political muscles in new ways this fall. Oprah said "we are voting for healing over hate." Her most striking comment cut straight to the Democrats' arguments that Trump will trash democracy: "If we don't show up tomorrow, it is entirely possible that we will not have the opportunity to ever cast a ballot again..."
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'Firehose of falsehood' finale |
Trump's very last rally, carried live by Fox and Newsmax, ended at 2:11 a.m. ET. He employed the same "firehose of falsehood" technique that has defined his three runs for president. As CNN's Daniel Dale recently wrote, "Trump made thousands of false claims as president, picking up the pace during crises and elections. But that he has himself done the same thing before doesn't make it any less noteworthy that he is doing it now." Dale made the case that "nine years into Trump's political career, daily fact-checking still isn't happening enough..."
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"The danger of disbelief" |
This morning, the top story at Votebeat, a nonprofit newsroom covering election administration and voting, is about the reasons why the counting will take a while. "Have a little faith, and thank your poll worker," Jessica Huseman wrote.
Elizabeth Green, the CEO of Votebeat's parent, was worried in 2020 that the system would fail. "I now see that the voting and elections system as a whole is strong and arguably has never been stronger," she wrote in this essay. The greater danger is that "one third of Americans have lost confidence in our elections, and their mistrust has led significant numbers of them to attack the very system they want to protect."
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Political media notes and quotes |
>> The NYT says the tech workers strike could prevent it from publishing a live version of its election forecast needle, requiring periodic manual updates. (NYT)
>> What Lachlan Murdoch is reading this morning: "Fox News defies odds to dominate cable US election coverage." (FT)
>> This morning on MSNBC, Joe Scarborough speculated about how Fox will handle the election if Harris wins. Inside Fox, it is "very, very clear that they do not want a repeat of November 2020," a Fox journalist told Jeremy Barr. (But that can mean any number of things.) (Post)
>> Dominion and Smartmatic say they are "monitoring" election coverage, Aidan McLaughlin reports. (Mediaite)
>> The Washington Post is the norm, not the exception: "Three-quarters of the nation's largest newspapers have declined to endorse anyone for president this cycle," Joshua Benton reports. (Nieman Lab)
>> "Major news outlets have twisted themselves into knots trying to appease critics on the right," but in the process, "they've alienated not just the left but anyone who cares about honest, fearless journalism," Parker Molloy argues. (TNR)
>> Stuart A Thompson enumerates five reasons that the early voting period was overwhelmed with misleading anecdotes and rumors. (NYT)
>> The aforementioned Daniel Dale says you should "watch out for these election night falsehoods." (CNN)
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>> "Shari Redstone won't stay on the board of Paramount Global after the company completes its planned merger with Skydance Media..." (Bloomberg)
>> "Comcast may be open to spinning off its cable portfolio, but Fox Corporation is staying exactly the way it is." During yesterday's earnings call, "the company shot down the idea" that it could be interested in segmenting... (TheWrap)
>> “Amazon has turned to AI to create recaps for TV shows on Prime Video — starting with its own original series — in a way the company claims won't risk revealing spoilers," Todd Spangler reports. (Variety)
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A first-time voter's story |
CNN International anchor Lynda Kinkade and her husband Trav became American citizens earlier this year. "We moved from Australia over a decade ago and were eligible to become naturalized citizens a couple of years ago," she told me. "But this election was the number one motivating factor to go through the testing and all the paperwork to become citizens."
I noticed Kinkade posted a picture over the weekend with her "Georgia voter" sticker, so I asked, how did it feel to cast an American ballot for the first time?
First of all, she pointed out, "in Australia, voting is mandatory so it's hard to imagine being eligible to vote and then not making our voice heard."
Second, "I've often reported on the long lines on Election Day, and we didn't want to risk missing out, so we voted early. Casting our ballot was quick, easy and the best way to express our love for this country."
It was a family. "When we went to cast our ballot at the local library, our 5-year-old daughter Isabella was keen to join," Kinkade said. "She wanted to vote and afterwards told us she was disappointed she didn't get to meet one of the candidates!"
Isabella sounds like my 7-year-old, Sunny, who woke up this morning thinking about both Harris and Trump. "They must be so nervous and so excited," Sunny said to me over breakfast. Just like the rest of us. Pace yourself today and in the days ahead...
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