AP’s Clinton ‘Victory’ Story Breaches Journalism Ethics and Public Trust

I wanted to know more. I had worked many elections at AP and the Los Angeles Times. I had been part of deciding when to call an election. It’s always a high-pressure event with many quick decisions. On the night of the 1968 California primary, I argued with two bureau chiefs that we should declare Robert Kennedy the winner. He had already claimed victory. The argument abruptly ended when the AP’s Bob Thomas called from the Ambassador Hotel, breaking the news that Kennedy had been shot, mortally wounded. I was dispatched to the hotel to help with the coverage. Tuesday morning this week, I called AP spokesman Paul Colford. He didn’t answer, so I left a voicemail message and followed it up with an email with these questions: “Who made the phone calls to the superdelegates? Your website states that on election night, nearly 5,000 stringers phoned the raw votes to AP’s four election centers. Also involved in the election night process were bureau chiefs in the states and supervisors in New York and Washington. I realize that the polling of the superdelegates is different. Are the superdelegates called by stringers, reporters in the capital bureaus and elsewhere? “Were these just phone calls or were there in-person interviews, text messages and emails? This is an important point. The superdelegates are big shots in their own states and in their own minds. Having dealt with such people as a political writer for the AP, based in Sacramento, and for the Los Angeles Times in L.A., Washington and on the campaign trail, I believe some thought, tact, smarts and experience is needed in dealing with them. To the country, as a whole, they are just cogs in the process. To them, their vote for the nominee is one of the biggest of their lives. Were they approached by overworked reporters with many other tasks, stringers, part-timers, rookies? Did the capital bureau chiefs take part in the process? Were they guided by a set of instructions to assure consistency? What were provisions for quality control? From my work with the Los Angeles Times poll, I know these questions are important. “Your election night system, with its many safeguards, is impressive. What are the safeguards in the superdelegate poll? Where do the reporters send the information? Who compiles it? Who made the decision to call the delegate race for Clinton? When was it made? It sounds as though, at a certain point, you got enough answers to lead to a decision? How many answers? “These questions … go beyond journalism and scoops. Your call, the day before the primaries in New Jersey, California and other states, probably influenced the turnout, maybe lowering it. That is why your process should be completely transparent. You became part of the electoral process. The people have a right to know how your process worked.” As of Wednesday, the AP had not replied. It is one of the many news organizations, which invoke the people’s “right to know.” But as is the case with most of them, this right does not apply to themselves. Correction: A previous version of this story said that Hillary Clinton reached the 2,383 mark of delegates needed to clinch the Democratic nomination without the help of superdelegates. Clinton has 2,203 pledged delegates and reached the 2,383 mark with the help of superdelegates. Dig, Root, Grow

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