The election could be contested and last for weeks after Nov. 3. Here’s what experts think journalists should know.

“Newsrooms need to prepare for a political environment in which mainstream political figures, most notably the President of the United States, are going to promote false and unsupported claims about the election. They need to prepare for that now.”

September 29, 2020 | Sarah Scire | Nieman Lab

Can he do that? How many times over, say, the last four years have readers asked you that? How many times have you asked yourself?

The National Task Force on Election Crises, a cross-partisan group of experts, wants reporters to know exactly how presidential elections are conducted and decided — including what happens when election results are disputed.

The task force has a number of resources specifically for journalists, starting with a media guide and legal guidelines that explain, for example, that no, the president cannot postpone or cancel the general election. … Many of the recommendations for reporters fell into one of three buckets: setting expectations before the election; covering and contextualizing Election Day itself; and reporting on what happens after November 3. …

It’s in this post-Election Day period “when inevitably there will be challenges and questions raised about the results and about the accuracy,” how journalists frame these inevitable challenges will be “very, very critical” to “maintaining good order, discipline, and faith in our process.”
-Michael Chertoff, former DHS Secretary

Nieman Lab: The election could be contested and last for weeks after Nov. 3. Here’s what experts think journalists should know.

The election could be contested and last for weeks after Nov. 3. Here’s what experts think journalists should know.

“Newsrooms need to prepare for a political environment in which mainstream political figures, most notably the President of the United States, are going to promote false and unsupported claims about the election. They need to prepare for that now.”