Poynter and PolitiFact present their guide for accurate news and information on election night - Poynter

Are You Confused about Where the Election Results Will Arrive on Nov 5? Don’t Worry–we Have Answers. For reliable election returns coverage on the night of Nov 5, traditional media sources provide the most impartial data and insights. Major broadcast and cable networks will employ “decision desks” that assess raw results to decide when it’s appropriate to “call” states for one candidate or another; some states might even feature more than one candidate on either ballot! These decision desks are staffed with experienced number crunchers without partisan agendas; many major media outlets even devote entire sections to gathering real-time results online. ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox News and NBC are among the major broadcast networks, and each usually provides extensive election night websites with extensive coverage (though Fox News is generally seen to support Donald Trump), its decision desk is widely recognized for being independent and credible (despite commentators supporting Trump at times). Associated Press and Decision Desk HQ both maintain race-calling operations that provide services for other media outlets; other major media outlets that should offer accurate results include The New York Times, Washington Post and Politico. Add NPR, PBS, the Los Angeles Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg as additional media sources that you follow for returns coverage. Furthermore, some news websites offer useful pages specifically dedicated to tracking returns. FiveThirtyEight offers benchmarks that estimate candidates’ performances across each county in 2024; FiveThirtyEight also offers guides with poll closing times, vote counting methods and specific races to keep an eye on for every state election; Semafor offers hour-by-hour plans on how to watch 2024 election like an expert On social networks like X – designed specifically to instantly share data – it can be insightful to follow the dispatches from political journalists and academics on these platforms. On election night, people looking for accurate data and thoughtful analysis should focus on ideologically neutral accounts rather than becoming distracted by biased or one-sided information from one side or the other. Below is a selection of politically focused accounts which specialize in providing real-time, detailed reports on election outcomes nationally or locally and are open-minded and neutral ideologically. Additionally, this book presents accounts that provide reliable analysis of election administration. FiveThirtyEight features G. Elliott Morris (@gelliottmorris), Geoffrey Skelley (@geoffreyvs), Nathaniel Rakich and Nathaniel Rakich from baseballot as regular contributors; The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter features Amy Walter (@amyewalter), David Wasserman from Redistrict.com (@Redistrict), Jessica Taylor of JessikaTaylor fame and Erin Covey (@Ercovey). Finally Sabato’s Crystal Ball features Larry Sabato (@LarrySabato), Kyle Kondik (@kkondik) and J.