Election Coverage Boot Camp: Prepping for the Polls

Election Coverage Boot Camp: Prepping for Polls

The National Press Club Journalism Institute and the Regional Reporters Association are kicking off a yearlong series of programs for reporters covering the 2012 campaign with a panel discussion on covering polls. The program will be held in the Lisagor Room at the National Press Club on Feb. 2 at 9:30 a.m.

Topics will include:
How campaigns and the media use polls for different purposes
How to read the numbers and find stories that might not be in the press release
How to avoid being played, and to tell good polls from bad ones
Top ten mistakes reporters make while covering polls

The panel will be moderated by Rick Dunham, president of the National Press Club Journalism Institute board and Washington bureau chief of the Houston Chronicle and Hearst Newspapers.

Panelists will be:

Celinda Lake of Lake Research Partners, a Democratic strategist whose clients have included national party committees, dozens of Democratic incumbents, and challengers at all levels of the electoral process.

Ed Goeas of The Tarrance Group, a Republican strategiest whose clients have included John McCain's presidential campaign, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, four U.S. senators and 53 members of the House.

Trevor Tompson of The Associated Press, who is responsible for AP's original polling worldwide and enforces AP's standards for reporting on polls.

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