Behind the Headlines

What does it take to cover an election with one of the biggest ballots in memory?

Next to Derby Day, Election Day brings with it the newsroom’s largest devotion of mass resources for a single planned event. Consider some of the numbers we’ve been facing as we get ready for the vote on Tuesday:

- 11. The number of pages we’ll devote exclusively to election news in the Wednesday newspaper.
- 26. Reporters we’ll have assigned just to election stories on Tuesday, covering everything from Lexington city council to the mayor’s race to state house and senate to judicial contests and congressional races.
- Seven. Photographers who will be shooting at polling locations and campaign parties.
- 20. Page designers, editors and copy editors who will produce and edit the special election pages for the Wednesday paper.
- Eight. News assistants, researchers, editors and others who will do nothing but take calls to gather  results in local races for counties throughout the Herald-Leader’s coverage area.
- 89. Cities and counties for which the Herald-Leader will have local results in the Wednesday newspaper.

Newsrooms have a special buzz about them on election night, with reporters and others crowding around TVs and computer screens as the results come in. There are a lot of moving parts to such a big election, but the goal is always the same — to produce the most comprehensive, thorough and informative local, state and national election coverage out there.

This year, we’ll continue to incorporate and use the ever-evolving Web into our coverage, with voting tallies updated as quickly as we get them. So keep an eye on Kentucky.com and the Herald-Leader’s Pol Watchers blog for the latest election night news. And grab a copy of Wednesday’s Herald-Leader for our comprehensive report on the winners and losers.

Peter Baniak
metro editor