Thread by @vermontgmg

THREAD: Today is shaping up to be one of the most critical days in US media history—huge challenge to help protect legitimacy of the election in the eyes of voters. @vivian & I have 10 key principles that news orgs need to abide by as they work today: cjr.org/politics/2020-…

If you're a reporter or editor, I hope you'll take a few minutes to read these principles & think about what it means for your own work and your own news organization and how you should responsibly report and frame the unofficial tallies coming in now: cjr.org/politics/2020-…

We've seen a lot of good coverage already, but some WILDLY irresponsible ones that threaten real damage to our democracy today (Hi @ajc!):

https://twitter.com/vivian/status/1323977577405521921

1) Local problems are not systemic failures. We haven't seen signs of systemic failure; some local problems, but all normal so far. Every reason to believe the election is legitimate, safe, and secure.

2) Know the calendar. Reassure readers/viewers that this extended vote counting is normal. Just because a state takes a week or longer to finalize results doesn’t jeopardize the election. Our system actually counts on that. It's normal—public just usually doesn't notice.

3) Manage expectations using careful language. The news media can unintentionally mislead the audience about the media’s role. Be precise. The media “projects” winners; it should not “declare” a winner, “call” a race, or “count” a vote. Unofficial results are just that.

There's no election results to "flip" until the vote is fully counted—just as it doesn't matter what order voters show up at the polls on election day.

4) Explain this year will be different. Many states still don't know their “denominator”—that it is, how many total ballots have been cast—because of the rise of mail-in and absentee ballot. That # is critical for "projecting" a winner; thus, projections might be slow/cautious.

5) We're already seeing shifs as ballots are counted. Some races (and entire states) that look close on election night might not end up close at all, and what looks like an early lead might evaporate. None of these shifts should be considered prima facie evidence of fraud.

Do not trumpet or parrot the president's claims of fraud, Fox pundit talking points, or GOP hand-wringing about "stealing the election." Again: There are no election results until all the votes are counted.

6) Provide vote counts and election numbers in context. The way tallies are presented or reported can unintentionally undermine trust in the legitimacy of the election—especially this year, when record levels of mail-in votes will add complexity.

7) Results aren’t “late” because the winner isn’t known this morning. It’s normal and lawful for counting to continue for weeks. What you think is “slow” isn’t. It’s the system functioning as intended. A slow count is a good count.

8) Don’t parrot premature claims of victory. And don’t frame premature declarations as “both sides” disagreements—e.g., “Candidate X says he’s won, while his opponent says he hasn’t.” There is no "both sides" to vote-counting.

9) Hold officials accountable without undermining confidence in the system. How reporters frame and report on controversies, problems, and candidate complaints will help determine public confidence in the integrity of the outcome. This is hugely important today.

10) Be prepared. Ground yourself in data, history, and constitutional and electoral law. Don't rely on your “normal” pundits to talk about constitutional and electoral law. Get actual experts on air. Need help? Ask me! @AspenDigital has a whole bunch who helped frame this list.

tl;dr: We're experiencing exactly the scenario everyone expected—an election hit by a pandemic and huge voter turnout that will take 24-48 hours to resolve clearly, where Dems voted heavily by mail. None of that is a problem for our electoral system. Don't make it out to be one.