posted 11-09- 02:20 AM
An outsiders view of things:TORONTO (CP) - It can't happen here. So say Canadian television news producers still reeling from a night of U.S. election coverage sure to rank among the biggest media blunders in North American history. Using exit-poll data, American networks declared Al Gore the winner Tuesday in the critical state of Florida, only to recant when the race turned out to be closer than originally thought.
Then Bush was declared the overall winner early Wednesday, only to have that call taken back within two hours.
Eventually, networks were forced to admit Florida was too close to call, leaving anchors red-faced and newspapers around the world with banner headlines prematurely blaring a Bush win.
"I think it was an incredible disaster," said Arnold Amber, a producer with the CBC.
"It was an incredible embarrassment. When you think these are some of the largest television networks in the world, it's truly amazing."
American networks rely heavily on exit polls, which are comprehensive, election-day surveys of voters conducted after they cast their ballots.
Canadian networks base their projections on early returns, starting in the east and moving across the country as polls close.
It's been nearly 40 years since a narrow race in the U.S. caused the media to think twice before declaring an early victor, said Amber.
"Over the years, they've been getting more and more confident in this," he said.
"In the end, they got caught - and they all got caught."
Newspapers in the U.S., Canada and around the world also got caught between the network gaffe and approaching deadlines.
Readers awoke Wednesday to early-edition headlines like Bush Wins and Bush Captures the White House, reminiscent of the Chicago Daily Tribune's infamous 1948 gaffe, Dewey Defeats Truman.
Across Canada, it was the same thing: By George, It's Bush, declared the Vancouver Province; Bush wins Cliffhanger, said the Ottawa Citizen; Bush Declared President, Secures Senate and House, said the National Post. The Canadian Press wire service also had Bush as president-elect for about 80 minutes.
It didn't help matters that even Gore himself conceded defeat with a congratulatory telephone call to Bush. He later called back to retract the concession.
In Canada, to prevent influence on voters, media outlets are prohibited from disseminating early election results to parts of the country where voting is still going on.
No such restrictions exist in the U.S.
Even so, it's still easy for Canadian broadcasters to be apprehensive on election night, said Lloyd Robertson, CTV's veteran news anchor.
"I have never done one of those projections on any election night I have worked without my stomach being in knots," Robertson said in an interview.
"It's always a bit of a chance you're taking. You're basing it on the best information you have available . . . but it's still a projection."
Exit polling is too expensive a proposition for Canadian networks to consider using it as a reliable source of data, said Elly Alboim, a journalism professor at Carleton University in Ottawa.
But even the more reliable Canadian method of using early returns can lead to mistakes.
"The reality is, whether they use exit polling or we use initial returns, networks tend not to wait for full results," Alboim said.
"You just hope that their professionalism says they want a significant proportion of the votes with a very small margin of error before they make that call."
Barry Zwicker, a Toronto-based media critic, blames the advent of the Internet and a more competitive media industry for the rush to be first with the news.
"If you asked people, 'Is it more important for our news media to get the story first or to get it right,' I think most people would want to get it right," Zwicker said.
"There has been some arrogance (in the media), and now the experts and the pollsters and the media all have egg all over their face."
Robertson, a long-time fixture of television news in Canada, fondly remembers CTV's coverage of the nail-biting sovereignty referendum in 1995.
"(We said), 'Let's not race to call this, in fact let's not call it at all,"' he recalled.
"'What we're talking about here is the future of the country; why don't we just let it unfold, because it is very close . . . and we'll eschew the competitive edge."'
Critics also say broadcasters tend to forget to remind viewers that what they are reporting are merely scientific predictions of a likely outcome.
What happened Tuesday is sure to drive that point home, Robertson added.
"It's good in a sense, because it makes the public understand that these are just computer projections, after all," he said.
"The good part of this is that people learn more about the process . . . and come to understand that these people make mistakes too."
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posted 11-09- 02:20 AM
