The answer may or may not come on Tuesday, but news organizations have been reporting on this issue for months. presidential campaign Kamala Harris and Donald Trump finally got a chance to review the dispute real results.

Broadcasting, cable news networks, digital news organizations’ sites and one streaming service — Amazon — were all dedicated to delivering the news Tuesday night. own operations.

“ The future of American democracy ABC News’ David Muir is on the line tonight during his broadcast on his network.

Little was clear from the initial numbers and exit poll results in key battleground states. Republicans encouraged by early signs, networks report from GeorgiaDemocrats have seen similarly positive signs from Pennsylvaniabut neither was decisive.

Presenters warned viewers that it would take time to know the results.

“We’ve got days ahead of us,” MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow said. “We have weeks. We are tireless.”

Fox analyst Karl Rove was carrying a whiteboard that read “Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania,” affirming the importance of that state and saluting the late Tim Russert of NBC News, who famously used it to signal support. to florida In the 2000 elections.

The actual results were a relief to news organizations facing an excruciatingly long, weeks-long process. voting day – talking about an election campaign that polls have repeatedly shown to be extremely tight. The first hint of what voters were thinking came shortly after 5 p.m. Eastern time, when networks reported exit polls showed voters unhappy with the direction of the country.

CNN’s Dana Bash said it is not yet clear whether the blame for this dissatisfaction lies with current vice president Harris or former president Trump, who was impeached in 2020.

Trying to make sense of anecdotal evidence

Otherwise, networks were left showing images of polling places on Tuesday and trying to extract wisdom from anecdotal evidence.

“The Dixville Notch is a metaphor for the entire race,” CNN’s Alyssa Farah Griffin said, trying to make sense of the tiny notes. New Hampshire community He reported earlier in the morning that he voted 3-3 for Harris and Trump.

MSNBC reporter Jacob Soboroff spoke to voters waiting in line outside a polling place near Temple University in Philadelphia, where actor Paul Rudd was handing out water bottles. Soboroff was called by a young voter to take a photo with her and Rudd.

On Fox News Channel, Harris surrogate Pete Buttigieg gave a contentious interview with “Fox & Friends” host Brian Kilmeade.

“Is this an interview or a discussion?” Buttigieg said this at one point. “Can I at least finish the sentence?”

Former NBC News anchor Brian Williams embarked on a one-night appearance at Amazon to get results, and he already had an unexpected guest at the California studio where he operates. Puck reporter Tara Palmeri was supposed to report from Trump’s headquarters in West Palm Beach but was denied permission to attend by the former president’s team.

Trump campaign manager Chris LaCivita described her as a “gossip columnist” in a post on social media site X. Palmeri said he accurately reported to Williams some concerns about who would vote early in the Trump camp.

Amazon said Palmeri was replaced by New York Post reporter Lydia Moynihan at Trump’s headquarters in Florida.

Neither Axios nor Politico immediately confirmed reports that some of their reporters had been similarly banned, and Trump’s campaign did not immediately respond to a call for comment.

New York Times strike affects election night fixtures

One notable election night media feature — the Needle on The New York Times’ website — was compromised by a strike by technical employees at the newspaper. Despite concerns, Needle was working early on election night.

As the name suggests, the Needle is a chart that uses polling results and other calculations to indicate the likelihood of a presidential candidate winning.

At 21:00, he rated the race as a contest and his chances of winning moved slightly in Trump’s favor.

This feature, first introduced in 2016, turned into a nightmare for supporters of Democrat Hillary Clinton, who the Times determined had an 85 percent chance of winning the election. Readers watched Needle go from predicting a “likely” Clinton victory at the start of election night to “leaning on Trump” by 10 p.m. and “leaning on Trump” at midnight. Trump won the election.

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David Bauder writes about the media for the AP. follow him http://x.com/dbauder.