Poynter Online - Covering Elections: A Poynter Resource Gallery

NEWS UNIVERSITY & THE ELECTION

These online learning opportunities can help you sort through your coverage:

Recent columns:

Last-Minute Attacks (Nov. 5, 2006)
- Election night on TV... Election-night bingo... The political compass.
Fantasy Congress (Nov. 2, 2006)
Election Mythbusters (Oct. 31, 2006)
- Self-financing... The political reality.
Voting Problems Nationwide (Oct. 26, 2006)
- Every polling place must serve people with disabilities... Human errors, too.
Google-Bombing the Election (Oct. 24, 2006)
Media Companies Help Politicians (Oct. 22, 2006)

Previous columns:

Get-Out-the-Vote Tactics (Nov. 1, 2004)
- Journalists barred... Why Nov. 2?... Election day weather... Amish vote... Bears on ballots.
The Electoral College, Provisional Ballots, Voter Fraud & Other Information You Need Before Nov.2 (Oct. 27, 2004)
- Prepare for the unexpected. Election by the numbers... Election chaos... Provisional ballots... Election judges... Candidate tracker.
The Moral Values Question (Nov. 3, 2004)
- Pro athletes & politics.
Who Called What When (Nov. 4, 2004)
- Exit polls... State election offices... Ballot measures & Constitutional amendments... Day-after cleanup... Rather-isms... Brokaw signoff... The wolf commercial.
The Best Government Money Can Buy (Nov. 7, 2002)
Election Night Projects & Exit Polling (Oct. 31, 2004)
- Election betting.

Recent items:

Other Romenesko election coverage

PHOTOJOURNALISM

Photojournalism tip sheet

On the Campaign Trail, Seeing is Not Always Believing: Questions photo editors might ask as a way of ensuring that their newspapers' images offer readers a fair and accurate view. by Kenny Irby

Getting the Right Angle on Political Images by Karen Brown Dunlap

ETHICS

Ethics tip sheet

Voting and Values: Old Story, New Peg: The linkage of voting and values has been around for a long time, and the media have made strides in covering religion and politics. But we're not there yet. by Kelly McBride

Not Done Yet: Untold Stories from Election 2004: Journalists need to introduce one half of the country to the other half, a story at a time. by Kelly McBride

Reporters Watch Candidates; Viewers Watch Reporters: Gauging the impact of a journalist's personal views on public perceptions. by Aly Colon

Journalists, John Kerry and Reporting Rumors: by Aly Colon

Don't Blame Us, We Endorsed...: A large majority of respondents to a poll by the Pew Research Center (83 percent) said newspaper endorsements made no difference to their vote. And those who were swayed by editorials were just as likely to vote against the newspaper's choice as for it. So why do politicians continue to spend precious campaign time courting newspaper endorsements? by Matt Thompson

DESIGN

Design/Graphics tip sheet

Presenting Tuesday's News: Lessons from '94: As newsrooms huddle to consider their Election Night design options, a look back at the 1994 mid-term elections can help. by Jeremy Gilbert

'Tis the Season: Are people conditioned to recognize election coverage by seeing these traditional, patriotic symbols? Are they necessary? Or, are they more decoration than information? by Anne Van Wagener

Information, NOT Decoration: The difference between information and decoration is substance. by Anne Van Wagener

Election-Night Graphics: Election night is a crazy night to make sense of a blizzard of information. And readers rely heavily on charts, maps, and other graphics for election information. How you handle them will make the difference between just looking crazy and enjoying the wild ride. by Anne Van Wagener

In Praise of Gimmicks: I stand before you on this day after Election Day 2004 to speak up on behalf of a maligned and overlooked journalistic tool: the gimmick. by Anne Van Wagener

Editorial Cartoonists on Campaign Coverage: I asked editorial cartoonists to submit work that looks at how the media has covered Election 2004. by Sara Quinn

Cartoons Matter: Why is it that cartoons -- and cartoonists -- struggle to find their place at Journalism's Table? by Howard Finberg

REPORTING RESOURCES

Places Journalists Should Go for Politics: A wealth of resources. by Al Tompkins

TELEVISION

TV/Radio tip sheet

Reporters Watch Candidates; Viewers Watch Reporters: Gauging the impact of a journalist's personal views on public perceptions. by Aly Colon

Election Night 2002: Cable's Gold Coins: The election night picture looked a lot like the future of TV news. Wall-to-wall coverage on cable, entertainment and a smattering of news on the broadcast networks. by Jill Geisler

Election 2004: The Director's Cut: Video clips from Poynter Online.

RADIO

TV/Radio tip sheet

Reporters Watch Candidates; Viewers Watch Reporters: Gauging the impact of a journalist's personal views on public perceptions. by Aly Colon

LEADERSHIP

Leadership tip sheet

Just Who Is the You?: Where is the leadership? Who looked at that ad for CNN and asked the questions: Does this reflect the America we want to serve? Can people see themselves in our coverage? Can young journalists of color look at our network and aspire to someday work for us? Who is doing that in your newsroom? by Gregory Favre

Don't Blame Us, We Endorsed...: A large majority of respondents to a poll by the Pew Research Center (83 percent) said newspaper endorsements made no difference to their vote. And those who were swayed by editorials were just as likely to vote against the newspaper's choice as for it. So why do politicians continue to spend precious campaign time courting newspaper endorsements? by Matt Thompson

LESSONS FROM PREVIOUS ELECTIONS

Battleground Coverage 2004: Election and Media Links: Resources to help you learn about and cover issues in the battleground states. Many are still useful, two years later.

Election Quick Links 2004: You never know what unexpected surprises may crop up on election day. So here are some quick links to help you make sure you've got everything you need to compare results to past elections and explain the unexpected on election night ... and beyond. by Jon Dube

Polling Data: Info from the 2004 election. by Jon Dube

Not Done Yet: Untold Stories from Election 2004: Journalists need to introduce one half of the country to the other half, a story at a time. by Kelly McBride

The Florida Ballot Project: Bravo for Public Service Journalism: A consortium of some of America's largest and finest news organizations made the commitment to carefully, systematically and professionally explore what happened in Florida when citizens went to the polls and when the votes were counted. by Bob Steele

Journalists, John Kerry and Reporting Rumors: by Aly Colon

Editors Preview Plans for RNC Coverage: Hot topics: Balance with DNC coverage, competition from non-convention stories for Page One, criteria for treatment of protests. by Pam Johnson

Don't Blame Us, We Endorsed...: A large majority of respondents to a poll by the Pew Research Center (83 percent) said newspaper endorsements made no difference to their vote. And those who were swayed by editorials were just as likely to vote against the newspaper's choice as for it. So why do politicians continue to spend precious campaign time courting newspaper endorsements? by Matt Thompson

Election Night 2002: Cable's Gold Coins: The election night picture looked a lot like the future of TV news. Wall-to-wall coverage on cable, entertainment and a smattering of news on the broadcast networks. by Jill Geisler

PBS Anchor: Conventions Matter Because Elections Matter: by Al's Morning Meeting

On the Road to Interactive TV: Online coverage from Election 2002. by Steve Outing

Poynter's Election 2000 Project

WRITING

Writing/editing tip sheet

My Fellow Americans: Political Reporters on Speeches: For the reporters in the audience, the political speech can be the best of assignments or the worst, speech story veterans say -- a hectic and pressure-filled exercise in reporting, critical thinking, and writing on deadline. by Chip Scanlan

Reporters Watch Candidates; Viewers Watch Reporters: Gauging the impact of a journalist's personal views on public perceptions. by Aly Colon

ONLINE

Online tip sheet

101 Web Sites: Snapshots of Election Eve, Election Day 2004: by Howard Finberg

A Smart Political Site Test: Project Vote Smart. by Jon Dube

Candidates, Campaigns and Computers: Political reporting online with the pros in 2002. by Robin Sloan

Political Briefings Online: Who's watching the actual politicians? On the Web, plenty of people. by Jon Dube

OTHER POYNTER RESOURCES

Politics & Press Bibliography: by David Shedden

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