election coverage

The toolkit includes information on identifying false statements online, examples of broadcasters’ work combating misinformation, voter registration resources and guides for finding local polling places.

CBS News has detailed its plans for Election Day coverage. With the title America Decides: Campaign ’23, coverage goes 8-9:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 7, on CBS News Streaming Network, the CBS News app, CBSNews.com and Paramount+.

According to the study, 62% of local news viewers and listeners say it is “very important” that local sources and journalists “ask tough, but respectful questions to get answers,” and 61% said it is very important they fact-check those candidates. Fifty-eight percent of the local news audience said it was very important those outlets have regular fact-checking segments.

Fox News was relatively steady and led all outlets for the night, but overall viewership was down by double digits.

ABC averaged 3.2 million total viewers during primetime, along with a 0.5 demo rating, compared to NBC’s audience of 3.1 million (and slightly younger 0.6 demo rating). CBS meanwhile averaged 2.6 million primetime viewers, and a 0.4 demo rating.

The midterms brought less drama than expected, but anchors had to fill the airwaves with something.

CBS News harnessed the power of Unreal Engine with Vizrt to create a variety of effects for its 2022 election night coverage. With the goal of creating something fresh for its coverage, CBS News opted to focus on new ways to showcase election data while connecting it to the broadcast’s unique Times Square location.

For the first time since 2004, the veteran broadcaster won’t be the network’s lead anchor announcing general election projections.

If the presidential Election Day is the Super Bowl for reporters who cover politics, the midterms represent the NFL’s conference championships. Networks and stations alike are set to cover the big stories on Nov. 8 — and thereafter, should the situation call for it.

Time was, a television reporter assigned to “democracy issues” would have a quiet time on election night sets, occasionally popping up to talk about broken voting machines at a polling place or two. That’s not the case in 2022. Between election deniers and threats to voting rights, news organizations have emphasized the beat. That will continue next Tuesday, with coverage plans for the midterms rounding into shape.

Broadcasters face challenges as they approach the climax of an election season marked by disinformation and distrust.

The two Senate elections, with the U.S. Senate’s balance of power at stake, attracted media attention that recalled the days after the presidential election, including breathless wall-to-wall coverage on cable news networks. “It’s beyond nail-biting time,” CNN’s John King said. Above, two women pray during a Republican election-night watch party, Tuesday, Jan. 5, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

Educators might not be teaching civics as well as they used to in middle and high school, but cable TV is doing a good job of it. Viewers are getting a firsthand lesson this week with coverage of Tuesday’s Senate runoff vote in Georgia and the planned challenge Wednesday to the certification of Joe Biden as president. And some mainstream cable channels like MSNBC and CNN have been doing an outstanding job teaching, as well as covering, the news by explaining the Constitution and how government is supposed to work — something too few Americans seem to understand these days.

On Dec. 18, journalists from Fox Owned Stations, Gray Television and Graham Media Group will share the remarkable work they did to engage audiences on social media in when the pandemic, election and extreme weather events made local TV news more essential than ever. Register here.

Paul Farhi: This election night went back and forth, red mirages giving way to blue shifts and vice versa — piecemeal reporting that created a whipsaw effect on election night and for several days thereafter, as officials whittled down a historic number of mail-in ballots. But was the whipsaw necessary? The illusory twists and swerves that were presented on television news created narratives that would linger and confuse.

Fox News was right, after all. This is a media story worth examining for what it says about the relationship between Fox News and the fan base that it shares with President Trump. At 11:20 p.m. on election night, Fox News’s Decision Desk jumped out ahead of the competition and placed Arizona — and its 11 electoral college votes — in the Biden-Harris column. The backlash from Trumpers was immediate and furious. They attacked again and again — protesting rhetorically, online and even in person in Arizona itself.

In times of social media, live streaming and Zoom, it felt good to remember that televised journalism can be really strong. The broadcast networks have attentive editors and journalists who won’t be used as tools of disinformation. This is something we should all celebrate.

CNN was the first to announce Biden as the winner of the 2020 presidential election with others coming in over the next 15 minutes.

Augmented reality has had a prominent role in election coverage in the United States, but it was pared down a bit for this year’s 2020 general election, while internationally it was giant.

After Election Night itself proved inconclusive, almost all the major broadcast and cable news networks continued their coverage into a second night. Whereas Fox News emerged victorious on Election Night, CNN topped the overall viewership rankings for night 2, drawing 7.1 million viewers in the primetime hours of 8-11 p.m. Fox News wasn’t all that far behind, garnering 6.3 million viewers in the same timeframe. MSNBC came third with 4.8 million viewers. On the broadcast front, NBC drew 3.7 million viewers to ABC’s 2.5 million and CBS’s 2 million.

Methodical vote counting Wednesday left Democrat Joe Biden on the cusp of the presidency. The Associated Press said he has won enough states for 264 electoral votes and a win in one of four uncalled states — Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania or Nevada — would make him the president-elect. Cable and broadcast news divisions followed the story closely, even as they learned that election night coverage was a relative dud with viewers.