As election night approached, television networks were under pressure about when and how they would call states for the presidential candidates.
Restraint, so far, has ruled the day(s).
In fact, what may end up being the biggest call of the election was made by the president’s favorite network, Fox News, not typically a target of his ‘fake news’ attacks.
Fox made the first projection of the 2020 election where a Trump state flipped from red to blue, calling Arizona for Joe Biden at 11:20 p.m.
None of the other major networks — CNN, CBS, ABC, NBC, MSNBC — followed suit. More than 24 hours later, they still hadn’t called it.
The pressure of that decision is immense, given the level of competition between networks. The moments after, inside those network decision desks, must have been frantic.
Fox’s call reportedly enraged the president, leading him to call Rupert Murdoch and demand a recall — which he refused.
CNN’s Kaitlin Collins reported the president immediately became concerned he may lose, pushing his legal team to pursue the lawsuits the campaign would later announce on Wednesday.
Eventually, the president held a campaign press conference in the White House where he claimed, “This is a fraud on the American public.”
All this, and the networks still didn’t join Fox.
The network reportedly bases its call on a proprietary model that uses Associated Press data.
About 3 1/2 hours later at 2:50 a.m. Wednesday morning, AP called Arizona for Joe Biden.
Still no call from the networks.
The country is on edge awaiting the results of the race. The collective anxiety to come to an answer on who actually wins is insanely high.
And to be the first network to make that call… the stakes could not be higher.
Despite all that, it’s encouraging that networks thus far are weighing the history of this moment with caution and care.