Media must rethink strategy

The NBC network announced Nov. 29 that it would rethink its reporting strategy in future elections, The Associated Press reported. It became the third major network, after ABC and the Fox News Channel, to make that decision, after strong criticism from the public and Capitol Hill about media coverage of the Nov. 7 election.\nTo avoid future problems, ABC and Fox are vowing not to project state winners in presidential elections until all polls are closed in those states. NBC and Fox are reevaluating their participation in Voter News Service, which provides exit polls and election data, The Associated Press reported.\nThose are good first steps in rethinking an obviously lacking coverage strategy. When election night turned into election season and accusations started flying, the news media had to face the reality that they had handled the election poorly. They called state races, such as Florida, incorrectly, and even declared Texas Gov. George W. Bush the winner when the results were still far from certain. Republicans claimed calling Florida for Vice President Al Gore early might have affected voting in the state's panhandle region, where polls were still open and votes were still being cast.\nThat might or might not be true. But media should never put themselves in a position where those allegations can be made. The job of media is to report the news fairly, truthfully and without bias, not to alter or affect the outcome of a hotly-contested national election. With their poor performance election night, the media did the entire nation a disservice.\nThe media now have four years to work toward a better reporting strategy and to evaluate the way they cover this monumental event. Perhaps they should not rely on exit polls, which aren't perfect by any means; perhaps they should watch more closely the poll closing times in states. Perhaps there are other ways in which media can improve their performance.\nWhatever the solutions to this problem, in four years, the public and the people on Capitol Hill will be watching, and expecting an improvement. The media must rise to the challenge, or they will have no credibility to report the news and serve the public. Without credibility, the media are lost.\nStaff vote: 12-0-1