Sorry, Wrong Numbers.

• Position: Brief Article

Embarrassed TV anchors, premature headlines, Al Gore's nix-that-congratulations call to George W. Bush--all can be blamed on one source: the Voter News Service (VNS).

The trouble began al 7:30 p.m. Eastern time on November 7, when VNS told the TV networks that Al Gore was leading George W. Bush in Florida, 51 to 46 percent. By 8 p.m., the networks all had announced that Gore had won the key state. But then at 9:38 p.m., the VNS sent out the message, "The vote is strange," indicating trouble with the numbers. Minutes later, Dan Rather and company had to tell viewers, "Whoops."

The media's cooperative effort had backfired. ABC, CBS, lox, NBC, CNN, and the Associated Press had joined together in 1993 to form the VNS, hoping that sharing one service would save...