Globe public editor: Election night pressure can lead to small mistakes

Fortunately most of our readers seem to understand that miracle and are gentle pointing out mistakes. [[{“fid”:”4884″,”view_mode”:”default”,”fields”:{“format”:”default”,”field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]”:””,”field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]”:””},”type”:”media”,”link_text”:null,”attributes”:{“height”:444,”width”:361,”style”:”width: 75px; height: 92px; float: left; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px;”,”class”:”media-element file-default”}}]]By Sylvia Stead, for the Globe and Mail A great word to describe election nights for journalists is hairy. Nothing much happens until the results come flooding in, most…

Fortunately most of our readers seem to understand that miracle and are gentle pointing out mistakes.

[[{“fid”:”4884″,”view_mode”:”default”,”fields”:{“format”:”default”,”field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]”:””,”field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]”:””},”type”:”media”,”link_text”:null,”attributes”:{“height”:444,”width”:361,”style”:”width: 75px; height: 92px; float: left; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px;”,”class”:”media-element file-default”}}]]By Sylvia Stead, for the Globe and Mail

A great word to describe election nights for journalists is hairy.

Nothing much happens until the results come flooding in, most of them at exactly the same time.

As a reporter or editor, you have your background sentences and paragraphs ready and then you have to pounce as soon as there is clarity about who won and who lost.

Not surprisingly, with hundreds of facts, names and numbers, some mistakes are made.

Fortunately most of our readers seem to understand that miracle and are gentle pointing out mistakes.

“Thank you,” said one Ottawa reader, “for moving Ralph Goodale andRegina-Wascana (riding) to Manitoba. Unfortunately, Manitoba can't accept them because Saskatchewan needs all the Liberals it can get. And no, Winnipeg doesn't need the Roughriders. “

To read the rest of this column, please go to the Globe and Mail's website, where it was first published.

H.G. Watson

H.G. Watson was J-Source's managing editor from 2015 to 2018. She is a journalist based in Toronto. You can learn more about her at hgwatson.com.