THE NEWSROOM'S VERSION OF THE PER DIEM TRAIN.

One of the things a model railroader can do to add challenges to an operating session with a clock is give freight crews and yard masters the responsibility for getting the transfer runs and interchange cars spotted before midnight.  Back in the era of small, connecting railroads, as opposed to the six or seven major systems of today, each railroad paid rent for the use of other railroads' freight cars.  The rent was so many cents per day, which the Legal Department rendered as per diem charges.  A car that was delivered to the interchange track or accepted by the yardmaster at the receiving railroad before midnight went on that railroad's per diem bill for the next day.  For the most part, yardmasters didn't hold the incoming transfer runs out of their yard, as the yardmasters at the sending yards could return the favor.  You can bet that will be a way to get the night trick off to a good start on the State of Maine Northern, with cars billed to the Boston and Albany, New Haven, and, on occasion, Boston and Maine being the first responsibility of the yardmaster coming on at 11 pm, and the new slug of cars coming in to be spotted or forwarded showing up at the same time.

There's something similar at work in the newsroom.  Power Line's Scott Johnson suggests there's a simpler explanation for those supposed vote dumps in Georgia.

When applied to the state as a whole, it appears that this was just bigger counties finishing up as they traditionally do to get the numbers in for the eleven o’ clock news. That is just how it’s done in Georgia for thirty years. Everybody is geared toward getting their numbers in for the 11:00 p.m. news so a big number jump between 10:00 and 11:00 is more common than uncommon in Georgia over the last thirty years.

Favors for favors. The politicians respect the newsroom's deadlines, and the newsrooms respect truthful announcements of when no further announcements are forthcoming.