Idiots? Has the expectation of the media sunk so low that we actually call responsible, restrained reporting of the news idiocy?
You’ve lost me. You’re actually referring to *not *reporting the known news as “responsible, restrained reporting”?
I don’t know if that’s restrained, but I fail to see how that’s responsible. Quite the opposite in my view.
No, I’m referring to reporting poll results as if they were election results and election results that cover part of a state as final for the whole state. There’s nothing responsible about reporting something as a done until it’s done. The idiocy is in the competition to be the first to say it happened when it hasn’t frakking happened yet. Cf. Dewey v. Truman, et al.
Why do we need exit polls? Why not just wait for the real results?
My only other experience is in New Zealand where:
Exit polling is illegal.
It’s a day for the candidates to shut up and let the people have their say so …
Any form of campaigning by a candidate or anyone else on election day is illegal.
All billboards must be gone by midnight before election day. That achieves the trash cleanup if nothing else. Party websites can stay up. That was impractical to regulate because of Google cache etc.
Ribbons with party colours are allowed on cars but no words suggesting a candidate.
There is essentially a news blackout until the polls close at 7 pm.
They’re going to call the race no matter what. It seems like you’re objecting to calling based on exit polls, rather than just calling in general, which I can agree with.
The “official results” generally aren’t certified until days after the election, and it would be silly to wait for that since 99.8% of the vote totals are usually public by then.