US election on TV: When Kamala Harris becomes a "Bitch"

Icon: enlarge

CNN election coverage: Very interesting finale

The "Bild" newspaper starts early with its replica oval office and, in the absence of news, a lot of free time, which is filled in the style of the house.

B celebrities have their say, the president's "most beautiful hairstyles" and the age of the challenger are debated.

A questionably motivated Alexander Graf von Schönburg-Glauchau does not hold back with his verdict on the vice-presidential candidate Kamala Harris.

That is "the most ambitious bitch".

That is a tone that one would expect from conservative radio presenters in the USA.

There, both Fox and CNN were noticeably reticent with opinions.

The liberal broadcaster from Atlanta mainly supplies the nerds.

It is about individual states in detail, including the districts and there in turn the candidates - not without having "initial results" immediately classified by experts.

Classic television with election observation like under the microscope, which in the early phase seemed to be a bit of a bean-counting.

NBC interrupts Trump's speech

Fox, in turn, runs in the White House, where Donald Trump was supposed to give his speech that morning - he leaves the MSNBC without further ado.

As the president counts out his previous or projected victories, Anchor Brian Williams interrupts: "We don't like to slide in here, but we honestly have to point out that saying he has already won the election is not based on facts".

more on the subject

Icon: Spiegel PlusIcon: Spiegel PlusTrump's bizarre TV appearance: Nine minutes for eternity by Arno Frank

ABC proceeds in a similar way a little later when Mike Pence speaks of a leadership of his president at the same press conference.

This is, "as a matter of fact", simply incorrect.

This "fact checking" in real time is a welcome novelty and shows the conscientious determination with which experts of the "failing media" (Trump) do their job.

MSNBC in its zeal, however, missed Trump's announcement that it would call the Supreme Court and end the election.

In Germany, from three o'clock onwards, RTL and ntv march together through the night, loosened up by tabloid and alarmist elements.

Next door at Phoenix, mouse-gray analysts give each other the handle.

On ZDF, Bettina Schausten - Florida just went to Trump - fears that "2016" could repeat itself.

In general, the astonishment that all the polls were wrong again.

Perhaps the amazement on display only serves to create a voltage that is difficult to produce - especially not with on-site switching, where little happens.

Perplexity at the highest level.

In Texas, a Democratic election party turns out to be rather cautious, in Washington riots simply do not want to set in.

In Arizona, which goes to Biden, a Republican wonders.

In Times Square, the reporter comes across a joker and leaves him standing.

There was a burst water pipe in Atlanta, so the count has been delayed there.

The latest tweet from Trump has not yet arrived in a parking lot in Wisconsin: "Hold on! I hope there is coffee nearby!"

Gysi and Meuthen at a hygienic distance

Cem Özdemir pushes the night shift for "political Berlin", doubts the fairness of the US electoral system at ZDF and the seriousness of the tabloid approach in the Oval Office of "Bild" - although Julian Reichelt repeatedly makes precise and correct assessments joins the newsroom.

more on the subject

Icon: Spiegel PlusIcon: Spiegel Plus Protocol of the choice of fate: America on a day that will change the world

Other politicians only wake up early in the morning.

At Tina Hassel, Jörg Meuthen and Gregor Gysi are more than just hygienic to answer questions.

He doesn't know "the background to this," says Meuthen about Trump's "So, now it's good to vote".

At ZDF, Alice Weidel finds "the media image of Trump completely overdrawn".

And while the public broadcasters are slowly saying goodbye to the comfort of the usual program, things actually get exciting on CNN.

So exactly where bar charts and statistics rule.

Trump's twist of calling the counting of absentee votes as electoral fraud is what the moderator tirelessly calls "simply not true".

When it becomes clear that it will ultimately depend on the results in a few states, CNN focuses on precisely these states.

The nerdy microscope suddenly delivers images that make sense - because every single pea really counts there.

What was irritating during the night actually becomes very interesting in the finale.

When the tabloid meets the editorialist

If there was a narrative strategy that prevailed in these elections, it was that of sober empiricism.

It doesn't matter whether it is delivered by a broadcaster, a newspaper, the "New York Times" or a website.

Everyone as he can.

Only "social media" and other services that otherwise so reliably set the pace have failed completely.

From Facebook to Twitter to Reddit, there is nothing but Babylonian confusion.

The hour of choice is not their forte.

more on the subject

Attempt to stop counting: Why Trump's coup didn't work out for the time beingA column by Sascha Lobo

In the competition of the journalistic systems there was also one of the cutest moments of at least the past 24 hours when Claus Strunz from the Oval Office of the "Bild" newspaper organized an advertisement for Josef Joffe from the "Zeit".

So here a tabloid looking to establish itself as a TV station was looking for a conversation with the editor of a weekly newspaper.

As was to be expected, he's sitting at the computer in his study.  

"Hello, Mr. Joffe!", Strunz is happy: "I see that you have withdrawn to your library and have already listened to us a little.

"No," interrupts Joffe absently and continues to look intently at the screen: "I'm working on my editorial."

It stays that way.

Several attempts to elicit an expertise or even a reaction from the transatlantic go nowhere.

The man is sitting there concentrating on his editorial.

And then one would like to read it.

Icon: The mirror