Networks have new focus on process

NEW YORK — Before 2000, the focus of television election night coverage was pretty simple: Count votes as fast as you can and explain why people voted the way they did.

Two trends in this year's plans show the residual impact of hanging chads and blown calls. Networks are intent on following potential voter irregularities and laying bare their own decision-making processes as results flood in.

ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, PBS, CNN, Fox News Channel and MSNBC will all devote prime time to election results tonight. Smaller networks, like BET and MTV, have unprecedented coverage because of the intense interest in the race.

Chip Reid will be stationed at the "Making Your Vote Count" desk at NBC News. ABC's Jake Tapper will deliver "Ballot Watch" reports. Mika Brzezinski at CBS, Major Garrett at Fox News Channel and Jeffrey Toobin at CNN all have the same assignments: Comb the country for reports of potential fraud or disenfranchised voters.

"We all got a civics lesson in 2000 so what we feel we need is some good intelligence with secretaries of state in every battleground state," said Paul Mason, ABC News senior vice president.

NBC is helping to finance a national voter help line. Civic responsibility is one motive; so is the hope it might tip the network off to trouble spots before its rivals.

Networks also want to rebuild public confidence in their performance after the 2000 disaster. You'll recall them declaring Al Gore the winner in Florida, rescinding it, giving Florida and the presidency to George Bush, then having to wait several weeks before a court fight settled the outcome.

ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, Fox News Channel and The Associated Press collaborated to construct a new exit polling system from scratch. The AP will also be the sole source for a nationwide vote tabulation.

After the primary season and several test runs, the participants expressed cautious optimism — certainly more optimism than they did in 2002 — that things will work on election night.