Here's How NPR Reports Election Results

[Roland99]

https://www.npr.org/2020/10/29/928863973/heres-how-npr-reports-election-results

We rely on the AP in large part because it has a track record of precision and caution.

One distinction between what you will read and hear on NPR and what you may hear in other places is that there won't be "projections."

AP does not make projections or name apparent or likely winners. If our race callers cannot definitively say a candidate has won, we do not engage in speculation. AP did not call the closely contested race in 2000 between George W. Bush and Al Gore – we stood behind our assessment that the margin in Florida made it too close to call.

Only when AP is fully confident a race has been won – defined most simply as the moment a trailing candidate no longer has a path to victory – will we make a call. In the race for president in 2016, that moment came at 2:29 a.m. ET the day after Election Day. Our APNewsAlert put it simply: "WASHINGTON (AP) – Donald Trump elected president of the United States."

The guiding question for AP in calling a race is this: "Can the trailing candidates catch the leader? Only when the answer is an unquestionable 'no' is the race ready to be called."

NPR will also give as much context as possible as to how these calls are made, particularly when we are in the heat of the moment on election night with a lot of information coming in.

[leftofthestorm]

1. Can you stream NPR?

thanks.

[Roland99]

3. they stream programs after they've broadcast. But check your local station.

https://www.npr.org/stations/

Also, if you have a SiriusXM subscription, you can stream from a computer or mobile device

[Codeine]

5. Most NPR stations have a stream.

Here’s a station finder; find one near you and see if they have a stream.

https://www.npr.org/stations

[exboyfil]

2. It keeps "newsrooms" from being the news

It is a good approach especially in this partisan time.

I would like to see Karl Rove melt down again though. TURN THOSE MACHINES BACK ON.

[Roland99]

4. NBC has changed its plans since the 2000 election

https://www.tampabay.com/news/florida-politics/elections/2020/11/02/chuck-todds-dive-into-the-2000-election-made-him-wonder-if-america-can-handle-that-chaos-again/

NBC is planning nine hours of election coverage starting at 7 p.m on Tuesday and the network will deploy a massive operation of reporters, pollsters and data with hopes of preventing a repeat of 2000. For example, NBC News will only call a race when there is 99.5 percent statistical confidence in the result. It is planning exit polls in 24 states with approximately 800 or more exit poll interviewers, and it will call absentee and mail-in voters in those states too.

Mindful of the president’s strategy, Todd said the coverage on Election Night won’t only focus on the results coming in but the number of ballots left to count and where they’re coming from. He and his team, which will include Lester Holt, Savannah Guthrie and Andrea Mitchell, will explain to viewers election processes that in normal times are taken for granted but this year could be the subject of misinformation campaigns.