
What the media must do to fend off an election-night disaster - aaronbrethorst
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/media/heres-what-tv-news-must-do-to-fend-off-an-election-night-disaster/2020/09/04/c94cee50-ed1c-11ea-b4bc-3a2098fc73d4_story.html
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rudiv
AFAIK there is a significant (>=5%) chance that the election night totals will
show a conclusive win for the incumbent, but the eventual complete tally will
show the opposite. This has the potential to cause a lot of confusion in the
immediate aftermath of election night. Whether there will be undemocratic
moves by the incumbent or otherwise in the time between election night and the
final count is obviously a matter of speculation, but given the mercurial
temper of the country I worry about how the nation at large will react to such
confusion.

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Simulacra
Except for 2000 which was an anomaly, and perhaps Truman vs. Dewey, can you
point to a Presidential election in modern times that suddenly flipped
overnight for the other candidate? I would say there's a < 5% chance of that
happening now, unless there is corruption.

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rudiv
Perhaps you could do some research on the amount of time it will take to count
mail in ballots and the relative difference between likelihood of mail-in
voting for both parties.

Or maybe your superficial response is correct, and there is nothing
exceptional about this election, and COVID-19 will no longer be a concern,
tomorrow?

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D13Fd
The article is focused on the "disaster" of the media saying the election came
out one way, and the election actually turning out the other way after late or
mail-in ballots are counted.

The solution the article gives, in maybe too many words, is just "don't jump
the gun about who won."

There is really not much to see here.

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tmaly
Is that not what the modern media is incentivized for? The 24 hour news cycle
and clickbait headlines. More eyeballs = more ad dollars

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tarboreus
Archived post: [https://archive.is/tqszq](https://archive.is/tqszq)

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hereme888
What the media should do is stop their political agenda painting a picture for
what they want their viewers to think.

Look at what happened in 2016. Democrats were sure they would win. And look at
what happened.

But they won't learn. It's greed and agendas. I can't imagine what's going to
happen as Trump challenges Biden to a debate, how that debate will go, what
the media will report, and how it will be an all out media and political war
until a winner is declared after election night.

