Cautious TV Wins Super Tuesday

Chastened by mistakes on New Hampshire, 2004, stations stay calm
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 6, 2008 10:47 AM CST

It was a chastened, circumspect TV news machine that creaked into action last night, the New York Times reports. After trusting ultimately incorrect polls in New Hampshire, pundits seemed terrified of making bold calls—a strategy that worked out, since the primary bonanza settled nothing. The biggest gaffe came from the AP, which erroneously called Missouri for Hillary Clinton.

But media pundits are never at a loss for words, Politico points out, and there was a fountain of data to parse. Airtime was consumed with the Latino vote, Kennedy endorsements, and the resurgence of Mike Huckabee. But after all the sound and fury, the only winners were the networks, who have more primaries to cover—and more ad space to sell. (More television stories.)

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