Newsroom Blog

Come with us as we work and write our way through election night.
If you want to drop us a line in the newsroom with your thoughts, opinions or stories, email us at webstaff@journalnow.com.

1:13 p.m.
What's next.
I predict these story lines coming up in the national press:
       • "A Nation Healing"
       • Counting the final votes
       • The success and failures of digital voting
       • Lawsuit results for a bit

— Producer Joe

10:13 a.m.
Inside Scoop
For all you beloved blog watchers, I thought I'd pass out this inside information: If Kerry concedes in the next hour or so, the Journal will be printing an extra edition.

If we had pugnacious cap-wearing newsboys, they could actually shout, "Extra! Extra! Read all about it!" It's just what we dreamed of in journalism school...

Stay tuned for updates.

— Producer Lee

5:56 a.m.
Home of the Free, the Brave, and the Sleepy
Well, I'm back in the newsroom after a wrenching 6.5 hours away from it. Fortunately, my desk chair was still warm. What do we do at 5:30 a.m., you ask? I'm not entirely sure, since I'm still asleep.

BUT: For you early risers, I thought I'd give you a little project. Did you have problems voting? Well, here's your very owndo-it-yourself electoral litagation kit. Sue just like your favorite political celebrity!!!

And don't worry America -- we may not know who the next leader of the free world will be, but we've been through worse before. At least it's not 1812 and the British aren't torching Washington, D.C. Yet.

— Producer Lee

3:56 a.m.
G'night (for me)
It's quiet again. There's too many of us online folk still here, but hey, we're working. Let's see tomorrow, er, later today if the press picks up the ball that Campaign Desk claims they dropped (Do you think that's accurate?) Let's see later today how much closer we get to a winner. I'm goin' home.

— Producer Joe

1:14 a.m.
In the Newsroom
After a brief break that allowed us to catch our collective breath following the last-minute crunch for first edition, the copy desk has started working on the second edition. We're also keeping an eye on Web sites that are mapping the electoral-vote totals in the president's race and agonizing over the tight races in Ohio and Michigan. The tension is building -- will we get final figures before the paper goes to the press at 2 a.m.? It's looking doubtful at this point!

— Holly Kerfoot, copy desk

12:57 a.m.
Ohio is the new black
Ohio - the fine home of Drew Carey and ... other things I'm sure. All eyes are on it right now. Here are the official results from their site. Florida is so 2000.

— Producer Adam

12:09 a.m.
Da' cam.
It's on JournalNow now. Check it out.

— Producer Joe

11:37 p.m.
The blur, the blur
The last three hours just whizzed by. All our major races are accounted for, people are calming down.

— Producer Joe

10:39 p.m.
More up-to-date information than you can shake a stick at ...
If you're finding yourself lacking in real-time, interactive election data then go take a look at the highly detailed results maps from CSPAN and CNN. Very cool.

— Producer Adam

10:33 p.m.
How long did you have to wait?
Interesting results from our frontpage poll asking how long local voters had to wait to vote. As of now, it looks like about a third had to wait around an hour and a little less than a third had no wait at all. For the 7 people so far who had to wait 3 or more hours, you certainly did your patriotic duty for today!

— Producer Adam

9:44 p.m.
Gettin' kinda hectic
Results are coming in, people are running around, check out our newsroom webcam.

— Producer Joe

8:45 p.m.
CNN calls N.C. to Bush
56% to 44% with 13% of precincts reporting – let's see how that fares through the evening!

— Producer Joe

8:25 p.m.
Voting Memories
I vote at an elementary school and it always brings back memories of my childhood. The smell of chalk dust and floor cleaners, the pictures on the walls, all pull me back to my primary-school days (OK, in the 1960s). Back then, in another state, schools did not close during voting and we ate in our rooms while the grown-ups gathered in the cafeteria. It always seemed such a mysterious and impressive process, and I couldn't wait to be old enough to join them. Though I have been voting for many years (no, I won't say how many), I still can't help but feel a bit of that even now. I think Election Day should be a day when Americans are proud of themselves for caring enough to participate. And to the 872 others who went to my polling place before me, I say thanks!

— Holly Kerfoot, copy desk

7:42 p.m.
The (rather boring) inner workings...
If you ever wanted to be a fly on the wall of the news budget meeting (which is where all the editors figure out what the front pages of sections will look like) here are some highlights:

Some editors were saying that the Forsyth County results will probably be in quite late. They've had some major problems with the mechanical ballot-counters malfunctioning, and a pretty good percentage of the ballots will have to be counted by hand. But, as one of the editors said, it wasn't intentional fraud, "just boneheadedness."

Someone else remarked that the rain scared away some voters. When he went to cast his ballot, he found a line of about 70 people waiting outside. A few sprinkles of rain fell, and about 20 people gave up and got out of line. Yes, clearly they were holders of some very deep political convictions.

And here's an inside tip: If your morning paper does not have a banner headline of "Kerry Wins" or "Bush Wins," keep your eyes peeled for an extra edition to go out early tomorrow afternoon. About 10,000 extra editions would be showing up at newsstands and stores.

— Lee Rawles, producer

7:21 p.m.
'S' before 'A' today
Having a last name that starts with "S" never helped in grade school. I was always at the back of the line.
Not so today while voting at the Miller Street Recreation Center.
With at least 100 people in front of me and my newspaper nearly read, it looked like a long wait. Like magic, however, the call went up "Anybody with a last name beginning with N through Z?"
Not a soul, not one person in front of me could respond in the affirmative. So I zipped right though to the front of the line.
I'm not sure why. One rumor had it that the voter rolls with names from A through M were incorrectly printed.
But mine is not to reason why when I get a free pass to the front of the line

— Scott Sexton, State Editor

7:03 p.m.
Yes Bush Can!
Or no he can't? This site, www.yesbushcan.com, seems not quite 'on the level.' However, the Dick Cheney psychedelic experience is quite enjoyable.

— Producer Joe

5:04 p.m.
Stay within the lines!
At my polling site, young representatives of one party were standing well past the "Campaigning Ends Here" sign. When I called them on it, they claimed that "the sign was in the wrong place." Whether they were right or wrong, it made 'em look weaselly to me, and from what I overheard, to other people in line as well.
But then again, it's not as bad as the coworker of a friend of mine from out of state who went to his polling place and found that someone had signed in as him and voted already!

— Tim Clodfelter, relish staff writer

5:34 a.m.
We have a winner!
Why Kerry Won / Why Bush Won
It's funny because it's um, true. Campaign Desk critiques the media's election coverage, and they do a pretty good job of it. This is part of their ongoing quest to make people laugh at our expense

— Producer Joe

3:45 a.m.
Mornin'
Hey, welcome to election day. The posting here will be light until the evening, when we have more on staff and the results start coming in. Expect to find links to online election-day tidbits, pieces from the action in the newsroom, our favorite web cam shots and ....

If you want to reach us at any time, email us at webstaff@journalnow.com.

— Producer Joe