Pat Kenny describes the growing importance of computers in the television presentation and analysis of election results.
In 1982 elections took place in both February and November, making it three general elections in eighteen months.
Two elections in the same year put extra pressure on resources at RTÉ which covered the campaign and the election results on both television and radio. Computers played a key role the delivery of results from the count centres and analysis of the results.
The day following the November election, Pat Kenny describes the growing role played by computers in the television presentation and analysis of election results.
It's a very complex and complicated business to get the results from all around the country and put them up on your screens. Happily, a lot of the slog has been taken out of it in recent years by the arrival of computers.
All the computer hardware used for the analysis is manufactured in Ireland, between Digitel in Galway and Apple in Cork.
Results from the count centres arrive in RTÉ by telephone line and are uploaded to computers. The VT30 machine is used to generate graphics to present the results to viewers.
Pat goes on to describe television pictures as ephemeral, and hard copies are needed by the experts. Printouts are produced using an Apple computer which is linked to a printer.
A lot of number crunching is done using Apple computers to generate statistics of interest.
There is still a requirement for expert human intervention in the form of Richard Synott, lecturer in Political Science at University College Dublin. Richard describes the work done by the computer in predicting the final outcome of the election based on the first count results and the patterns of transfers in the previous election. For Mr Synott, the computer generated predictions are only as good as the assumptions assigned to the data and the interpretation of the results. He believes that what is needed is an alliance between the computer output and the expert analysts.
We'd be interpreting it with a certain amount of caution.
This episode of 'Today Tonight' was broadcast on 25 November 1982.
Title: |
Computerisation of Election Results |
Clip Duration: |
00:02:02 |
Material Type: |
Video |
Clip Title: |
Computerization of Election Results |
Series Title: |
Today Tonight |
Information: |
This clip is taken from a special edition of 'Today Tonight' covering the 1982 November general election results. 'Today Tonight' was a RTÉ current affairs programme with up-to-the-minute coverage of events at home and abroad. 'Today Tonight' was first broadcast on Monday, 6 October, 1980 and ran for 12 years until 1992. Edited by Joe Mulholland, the original presenters included Barry Cowan, Brian Farrell and Olivia O'Leary. 'Today Tonight' aired from Monday to Thursday on RTÉ 1. |
Local Keywords: |
Pat Kenny, General Election 1982, UCD, Richard Sinnott, University College Dublin |
Coverage: |
Ireland |
Topic: |
Politics and Economics |
Contributor(s): |
Pat Kenny (Reporter) |
Publisher: |
RTÉ |
First Broadcast Channel: |
RTÉ One |
Broadcast Date: |
25/11/1982 |
Production Year: |
1982 |
Country of Production: |
IRELAND |
Original Identifier: |
96D/00217 |
IPR Restrictions: |
Rights Reserved - Free Access |
Rights, Terms and Conditions: |
Copyright RTÉ. This material may not be replicated in any form or manner without the prior express permission of RTÉ. Any form of reproduction in print, television, video, multimedia, web site or other electronic media or any form of dissemination for commercial or non-commercial use must be licensed by the RTÉ Libraries and Archives. If you wish to licence video or audio clips, still images or text, or would like further guidance please contact us. RTÉ Libraries and Archives are committed to respecting the copyright of others and have attempted to source and credit the copyright owners of all material used here. RTÉ would like to hear from any copyright owners who are not properly identified here so that the necessary corrections can be made. If you feel your copyright has not been respected please contact us. |
Item Type: |
part/extract |
Colour: |
Colour |
Sound: |
Mono |
Aspect Ratio: |
4:3 |
Language: |
English (eng) |
Original Language: |
English (eng) |
