In a technological era when we can receive information instantaneously, the national press has an even greater responsibility to make sure stories are accurate and fair before reporting them.\nIt seems during this election CNN and the networks shrugged off this responsibility and might have detrimentally affected the presidential race in their gusto to be the first to report breaking news.\nTheir unfortunate practice of "projecting" the winner through exit polls and early returns might have cost Al Gore or George W. Bush the presidency. \nThis should not be so. \nThe role of the press on Election Day is to observe and inform, not to participate. \nCNN and the networks projected Gore as the winner in Florida while the polls were still open. They clearly had no idea what they were talking about. Yet, this misinformation could have affected the vote in a very tight race. \nSome prospective Bush voters might not have wanted to make the effort to vote after finding out their candidate had lost. Some prospective Gore voters might have stayed home content in the knowledge their candidate had won. By the time they found out the truth, it was too late -- the polls were closed.\nThis election will go down as the closest presidential race in our nation's history. Every single vote Tuesday counted more than ever. It is not outside the realm of possibility Bush or Gore won Florida by a single vote. \nThe handful of voters who stayed home because of CNN and the networks' misinformation would have had an effect on the outcome. Their voices were not heard because of mistakes made by the national media.\nThe national election is a race to determine who will lead our nation. It is not a race to see who can report the news first. Scooping everyone should not come at the expense of voter integrity, and no one will remember in six months who reported the winner first; but we will live with that choice for the next four years. \nThe first Tuesday in November is a sacred day in our democracy, and the overzealous press should not interfere with its outcome. This business of "projecting" the winner needs to end.\nMaybe the press can help our democracy during the next election by waiting for poll closings and accurate final numbers before guessing the winner.
staff vote: 19-0-1\nOnline vote: 107 - 21- 2
