A decisive Election Night — and what comes next
In the weeks leading up to Election Day, newsrooms prepared themselves and their audiences for another long wait for election results. Instead, Donald Trump declared victory just before 2:30 a.m., though the Associated Press didn’t declare him officially the winner until 5:30 am. Here’s a rundown at some of the stories that captured Election Day, and resources for what comes next.
How newsrooms covered the elections
TV networks prepared for a long wait that wasn’t (The New York Times)
Television networks were cautious in their coverage, even as early indications showed positive results for Trump.
- In a frank internal meeting, The New York Times wrestled with its political role (Semafor)
- When the winner’s name isn’t enough: How the AP is leaning into explanatory journalism to call races (Nieman Lab)
- How local TV newsrooms demystified state amendments (Poynter)
- Dearborn Diaries: How media consumption in the Arab American capital might shape the election (Columbia Journalism Review)
- How a youth-focused experiment queued up The Washington Post to cover an unprecedented election (Poynter)
- Student journalists, filling local news gaps, step up to cover the 2024 election (Nieman Lab)
- The challenge of capturing Election Day 2024 in a headline (Poynter)
What’s next for the media
Trump wins, the press loses (Columbia Journalism Review)
Kyle Paoletta argues that another Trump presidency will be “destabilizing” for the press, with worries about White House access, government interference by federal agencies and violence against journalists from Trump supporters. He urges newsrooms to spend the next two months preparing for the new administration.
- Trump says he doesn’t mind someone shooting at journalists at rally (The Washington Post)
- How Trump could weaponize the FCC against the media in a second term (The Washington Post)
- Trump’s media playbook: How Trump’s second term could target media with bullying (Axios)
- Trump campaign denies and revokes journalists’ election night credentials after critical coverage (CNN)
- Trump calls media ‘the enemy camp’ in speech declaring victory (The Guardian)
Looking back on the role of endorsements
Roughly 3/4 of major American newspapers didn’t endorse anyone for president this year (Nieman Lab)
Led by risk-averse corporate owners, dozens of the biggest U.S. newspapers declined to make presidential endorsements. Here’s how that shift happened following the 2016 elections.
- At The Minnesota Star Tribune, a non-endorsement leads 15 former staffers to write their own (What Works – Northeastern University’s School of Journalism)
- Slate has never officially endorsed a candidate for president. But we share whom Slate staff members are voting for. (Slate)
- In internal email, LA Times owner cites Gaza among reasons he decided not to endorse Harris or Trump (Drop Site)
Tools for the days and weeks to come
Copy these responses to address public accusations around elections (Trusting News)
Confusion around this election is likely to continue for several days, so Joy Mayer and Mollie Muchna at Trustings News have put together responses to common questions for newsrooms to use when interacting with audience members.
- Journalism resources for Nov. 5 & beyond (American Press Institute)
- Votebeat assembles nearly 100 election experts to answer reporters’ questions (now, and in the weeks ahead) (Nieman Lab)
- Court Watch’s one stop shop for all litigation related to the election filed in the federal courts on November 5th (Court Watch)
- AP’s explaining Election 2024 (The Associated Press)
- Zoom: The 2024 election and what’s next — 10:30 a.m. ET (Stanford-MIT)
- A more extended conversation at 11 a.m. (Caltech 2024 Election Integrity Project)
- INN members’ elections coverage is available via APT, allowing more than 2,600+ AP newsrooms in the US to freely republish the stories (Institute for Nonprofit News)
