4 Biggest Election Media Blunders Of All Time

Election Day is one of the biggest revolving events for the media. Once every four years, the political rhetoric intensifies to its peek on a fateful Tuesday in November. Unfortunately, from time to time, the media itself becomes part of the story. Here’s a look at four of the biggest election season media blunders of all time.

Dewey Debacle

For a newspaper, it doesn’t get much worse than running a front-page headline that is completely wrong. However, on November 3, 1948, the Chicago Daily Tribune ran the infamous headline “Dewey Defeats Truman” on the first edition of its newspaper. Thomas E. Dewey’s large lead in the polls coupled with a printers' strike forced the Tribune to make an early election call, but Harry S. Truman caught the paper by surprise by pulling off a close victory. The headline on the paper’s second edition was changed to “Democrats Make Sweep of Stet Offices," but a photograph of President Truman holding a copy of the erroneous first edition has become one of the most iconic media images of all time.

Exit Polling Outrage

Today’s media outlets make predictions about which candidates will win counties, states and delegates long before the last vote is counted. One of the major tools they use in making these projections is exit polling. The media first began using exit polls on Election Day 1980 during the race between Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan. In fact, NBC News was so confident in its exit poll numbers that it projected Reagan had won the election three hours before West Coast polls had even closed. The projection triggered a huge backlash, including a Congressional ethics investigation. Today, most reputable media outlets do not project winners until after the polls officially close.

Every Chad Counts

More than 50 years after the Chicago Daily Tribune blew its Election Day call, all the major media outlets botched the 2000 race between Al Gore and George W. Bush horrendously. NBC first declared Gore the winner in the decisive state of Florida at around 7:30 p.m. EST, a call that was quickly mirrored by the Associated Press and the other networks. By 9:55 p.m. EST, CNN withdrew its projections and declared Florida “too close to call.” At 2:16 a.m. the following day, Fox News Channel gave the victory to Bush, and NBC, CBS, CNN and ABC followed suit within minutes.

Of course, within hours, all the networks once again had Florida back in the “too close to call” category. After controversy surrounding hanging chads on Florida ballots, an official recount and a Supreme Court ruling, Gore finally conceded the race on December 13, more than a month after Election Day.

Insider Information

Making early and/or incorrect predictions about the election’s outcome is one thing, but former CNN contributor Donna Brazile's actions this campaign season are a matter of questionable integrity. The FBI has cleared Hillary Clinton of charges related to leaked emails from her private server. Brazile, on the other hand, was caught red-handed emailing the Clinton campaign two potential debate questions prior to CNN-hosted debates. CNN has since cut ties with Brazile, but her actions have fueled accusations from Donald Trump and his supporters that the media has a bias toward Democratic candidates. CNN has clarified that the network never gave Brazile access to the questions.