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Post'election reflectionsOn flush polls and camera warsBy DEAN JOHNSON Sun StaffLOWELL - Exit polls, entrance polls, straw polls, telephone poles - the local media paid out serious money this election year in their bid to get an early handle on the results of Tuesday’s Presidential election in the Bay State.Well, Worcester rock radio station WAAF-FM conducted its own poll early Tueday morning, and it didn’t cost them a cent. It was also one of the most accurate preelection polls taken in the state.The station instructed its pro-Reagan listeners to simultaneously flush all their toilets at exactly 7 o’clock Tuesday morning. Mondale people were told to do the same exactly one half-hour later. WAAF then made contact with the various regional water districts in the state and tallied the results.Early Tuesday morning WAAF promotions head Steve Stockman told the SUN that according to the results of their toilet poll, Ronald Reagan would end up winning the Mass. presidential primary “by a very small margin. We stand by the results.”When the final results came in, Reagan received 51% of the vote, Mondale 49%. That qualifies as a small margin of victory. WAAF hit the nail right on the head.“Lowell was the only region where Reagan and Mondale were virtually tied,” explained Stockman. By comparison, the Waltham district endured a 5-pound drop in water pressure at 7 a.m. Tuesday, and only a 3-pound drop at 7:30, according to Stockman, making Reagan the clear winner there.“This is the only poll,” con-John Henning ...best analysistinued Stockman, “where voutrdon’t have to talk to a pollster or even leave your house. It’s real convenient.” He added that those polled were also told to avoid showers or dou ble flushes at the specified times to keep the results as real as possible.People who unwittingly participated in the poll were most likely offset by “voters” who owned wells and couldn’t have their votes counted, because the end results were right on target.☆The way the Boston network affiliates handle the results of the local voting always ends up as an irreplaceable part of the election night process.Anyone watching Ray Sha-mie’s concession speech saw WBZ-TV’s Andy Hiller look as if he was ready to punch out a rival reporter from Channel 7 when the two jostled for position to ask the defeated candidate a few exclusive questions. Things got so hot, in fact, that one of Shamie’sitmmm m* * * * * * •■Xyvfr* ylt;A6c- v* 4 .•vMi*JMovie cloekJohn Chancellor ...best observationstaffers had to interrupt and tell them both to calm downfall of the tete-a-tete being picked up by the tv and podium micophones.Shamie’s concession speech was also a perfect example of the lengths the cameramen from each station will go to in their efforts to top one another. Channels4and 5 set up cameras in the hall that were fixed on the speaker's platform, waiting for Shamie’s entrance. Channel 7 did them one better by accompanying Shamie as he made his way to the stage.But once Shamie took to the podium, the Channel 7 camera could only manage a few jostled profile shots until it repositioned, while its rivals had clear sailing.Channels 4 and 7 broadcast the best on-location pictures Tuesday night. Each time all three stations were at the same site, the quality of Channel 5 s picture was always the inferior one. The shot glared, and the colors just weren’t as real or vibrant. It’s a small thing, but after spending big bucks on election coverage.why lose viewers to the competition because of a harshpic'ure?tfesi election night coverage? I give the nod to WBZ-TV, primarily because theelection analysis segmentsfeaturing John Henning and Senator Paul Tsongas were the most thoughtful and informative moments of theevening.Henning is an elder statesman among television journalists in Boston. He’s covered enough local elections to know what makes the Bay State voters tick.Tsongas was brutally logical and forthright in hisassess-mentoftheresults. Forexam* p)e, Reagan's expansive victory, he said, left the Democratic Party in nothing less than a shambles on a national basis. He even dissected John Kerry’s acceptance speech, separating the moments when Kerry spoke as a warm human being from the moments he spoke as just another working politician.Those segments with Tsongas and Henning provided thoughtful insight by a couple of savvy insiders eager to share their expertise with ■ their audience. They gave WBZ the edge in the local election coverage sweepstakes...at least for this year.The most striking observation of the night came from : NBC correspondent John Chancellor in the wee hours after Reagan had wrapped up his massive victory.When the average percentage of the country's disposable income is on the rise during an election year. Chancellor shrugged, the incumbent is all but a shoo-in. When all the glitter, the bluster, and the hype from the election fades, that simple statement will most likely stand as the most telling comment any television newsperson had to make during the 1984 elections.
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