The networks have taken CIA-style precautions to insure Election Day runs smoothly. At 11 am Tuesday, three representatives from each of the six news organizations in the business of calling presidential elections ”” CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN, Fox News, and the Associated Press ”” quarantine themselves at an undisclosed location to start poring over exit poll data supplied by Edison Media Research and Mitofsky International. “I can’t tell you any more than that it’s in the state of New York,” Gawiser says of the meeting place. (Other execs confirmed that the reps indeed meet in New York City). Blackberries and cell phones are confiscated, wireless technologies disabled, and minders accompany people to the bathroom. The protocols started after the 2004 presidential race, when early exit poll data indicating that John Kerry was ahead leaked across the Internet in the early afternoon. Now, the reps can’t talk to their newsrooms until 5 pm, when communication lines reopen so that the broadcast networks have enough time to prepare for their evening newscasts.
Who’ll be the first to rant about the Evil MSM and all their enormities?
All I know is that CBS was calling the election last night on the evening news!!