PRESS
RELEASE
from
The
Associated
Press
November 14, 2012
AP State News Reports: Calling a total of
4,653 races
In this memo to AP staff, Managing Editor for
State News,
Financial News and Global Training Kristin Gazlay singles out the
veteran Washington staffer who crunches the numbers and deciphers the
data to help lead AP on election night in accurately calling the
presidential race and thousands of others:
AP has a well-earned reputation of being the gold standard for election
calls, and that held true again this time around – an extremely close
year with numerous tight races across the board, including high-profile
Senate contests and narrow margins in many battleground states in the
fight for the presidency.
The result? AP director of race calls David Pace and his team
of 37 callers and 11 election analysts called a total of 4,653 races on
election night and the next day, with a remarkable accuracy rate of
99.9 percent.
Pace began pulling together his team more than a year ago,
with training beginning in earnest before the primary races and
escalating through the late summer and fall. This year held many extra
challenges, including a large number of first-time callers and
less-detailed exit polling information in some states. Race callers and
analysts must do in-depth reporting and research, making sure they know
their races, plus the state's voting history, laws and elections
personnel. The job combines exhaustive research with the need to be
able to analyze numbers on deadline and to be decisive. And nobody does
it better than the AP.
No wonder major customers such as the Wall Street Journal and
New York Times explicitly chose to go with our calls. AP calls were
credited on many newspaper websites and on TV, and the Journal sent a
memo to staff ahead of time saying it would depend on AP’s expertise.
AP race calls form the basis of all of our journalism on
election night, from TV to text to photos to interactives. One example:
An interactive election night map created by Michelle Minkoff, Nathan
Griffiths, Seth Rasmussen and Troy Thibodeaux flawlessly reported
results throughout the night for the presidential, Senate, House and
gubernatorial contests, as well as key ballot initiatives. The product,
a separate service for premium clients, logged more than 14 million
visitors: http://apne.ws/THsJoF
"Calling races, from the presidential level to state legislatures, is a
vital function the AP provides to members and customers on election
night,” says Washington Chief of Bureau Sally Buzbee. “Being able to
accurately and quickly call those statewide and state-level races is
critical to our members and customers' ability to provide strong
election night coverage."
For underscoring the AP’s essential nature by leading an
operation that accurately called scores of races in all 50 states,
David Pace wins this week’s $300 Best of the States prize.
About AP
The Associated Press is the
essential global news network, delivering fast, unbiased news from
every corner of the world to all media platforms and formats. Founded
in 1846, AP today is the most trusted source of independent news and
information. On any given day, more than half the world's population
sees news from AP. On the Web: www.ap.org.
Contact
Paul Colford
Director of AP Media Relations
Erin Madigan White
AP Media Relations Manager