It's Our City is a project that uses TV, Radio and Web
to promote civic engagement in the Philadelphia region.Should the TV networks stop trying to project winners?
Tuesday, November 4th, 2008 at 8:10 pm - by Matt Campbell. Filed under: Politics.
The television networks are once again using exit polling. They plan to use it to help project winners. This time around the newtorks say they will be very careful in how they’ll use the numbers. But they are still going to use them, and are likely to project winners shortly after the polls close in that state.
We want to know what you think. Do you think TV networks should use exit polling in projecting winners?
Do you think the TV networks should wait till polls in all 50 states have closed before they project winners?
Do you think the TV networks should get out of the business of projecting winners and just wait for the votes to be counted?
Related story: Exiting Polling 101
November 4th, 2008 at 6:04 pm
Yeah, I think they should stop. I lived in England during my junior year abroad, and having an election in a country with a SINGLE time zone is so different. Extrapolating finishes while polls are still open may dissuade people from voting.
November 4th, 2008 at 9:27 pm
Most definitely. It’s bound to make an impact on some late (in the day) voters, especially on the local/state results. As a society, we need to learn patience. Before TV and computers John Q. Public waited until the next day to learn the results. They managed then, and they can “manage” now to wait one night to learn the results. I do believe that many voters would understand.
It is only 8:30 p.m. here in New Jersey and some media outlets are already talking about an Obama win. Not a good thing …
November 4th, 2008 at 9:38 pm
I agree. The networks are calling states with 0% of the actual vote in. It’s like gambling, the networks are likely to be right 99% of the time, but as we remember 2000 that 1% can be a real embarrassment.