Cronkite School covers election night live on TV, online

Students from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University will produce three hours of live election coverage Tuesday night on Arizona PBS and provide continuous online coverage of local and state election results on cronkitenewsonline.com.

The election coverage will be provided by Cronkite NewsWatch, the school’s award-winning 30-minute newscast, and Cronkite News, an intensive reporting program providing multimedia stories on statewide public policy and government issues via the Web.

The Cronkite School’s televised coverage will air from 7 to 10 p.m. on Eight World (digital 8.3 and Cox 88) as reporters and analysts break down the results from around Arizona and beyond.

Meanwhile, starting at 7 p.m., Cronkite News (cronkitenewsonline.com) will offer continuously updated returns, election calls, updates on statewide and congressional races, live blogs and full coverage of all 10 ballot propositions. The newscast also will be live-streamed on Cronkite News from 7-10 p.m.

“Dozens of top journalism students will provide coverage at a depth and of a duration that few can match,” said Steve Elliott, director of Cronkite News. “It's not only great experience for those participating in the coverage; it's journalism of great value to Arizonans."

Election night coverage provides student journalists with invaluable real-world experience, said Assistant Dean Mark Lodato.

"I don't know of any other journalism program in the country that exposes students to this level of live deadline reporting on an election night," Lodato said. "In fact many of our graduates credit this very experience with making them more prepared for election assignments they now face in commercial newsrooms."

Cronkite crews will be covering the election from around the Valley, and reporters will provide live reports via satellite from the Democratic and Republican headquarters. Live coverage also will be provided from Maricopa County election central at Phoenix Civic Plaza.

Student reporters will use cutting-edge iPhone technology to shoot and edit video in the field while writers file Web reports via Wi-Fi connections and call in stories by phone. Photographers will submit their work through Flickr. Back at the bureau, Cronkite News reporters will also cover ballot propositions, statewide races and U.S. House races from the Cronkite School.

The staff of about 50 student journalists working the election represents the largest group from the school that has worked at one time to cover a major event.