Stations Ramping Up For Campaign Coverage

For a growing number of TV station newsrooms, election season will be more than election night with fancy voting graphics, talking heads and remotes from hotel ballrooms, say local TV news executives and observers.

Debates, roundtables, aggressive campaign beat reporting and political fact-checking will be more prevalent on-air between Labor Day and Election Day than they have in the past, they say.

Local broadcasters say the nature of their political coverage this season will be markedly different, too, as they heighten their commitment to probing candidates’ claims versus being an outlet for press conferences and talking points -- and hopefully hook viewers by doing so.

“The role of journalists in terms of sorting truth from half-truth or lack of truth is becoming more critical,” says Hearst Television’s VP of News Candy Altman. “There is so much out there now, that trying to find trusted sources for reality is really important.”