Star-struck.
((I can blog all week about the debate. Here I go.))
The Media Filing Center
The media filing center was like a dream come true, like my initiation into the journalism world. Amid the throngs of credentialed reporters (CNN! MSNBC! Oh, and Fox) I didn’t feel like a college student trying to fit in but a journalist covering a national and historic event. Covering a whirlwind of a debate, it definitely felt like I was a part of history, filing away memories that I could point back to 10, 20, 50 years from now and say “I was there when that happened.”
People I saw:
The thing about the news is that it’s not happening in the newsroom. I can’t speak for other journalists, but it’s often tempting to stay in the office, phone in the interviews and sit in front of a computer to type and research your story while exchanging witty banter with other reporters and congratulating ourselves on being a step ahead of the public. But if you want to be there for the good stuff, you have to walk out. Leave the confines of the newsroom and who knows what might happen?
I sure didn’t. I somewhat reluctantly left the media filing center to get a chance to speak to more activist students outside on the quad. But instead, within moments of leaving the Athletic Complex, I nearly bumped into Fred Thompson and Joe Lieberman. I locked eyes with Hardball’s Chris Matthews. John Oliver from The Daily Show stood and recorded his broadcast right next to me. Less spectacular, but no less fun, I got footage of students with a cut-out of Abraham Lincoln wearing an Obama T-shirt; students playing a metal robot boxing game with Palin and Biden’s faces pasted on each contender; and fights breaking out among Obama and McCain fans.
There’s something intoxicating about reporting live, on the ground work as opposed to writing about something you have to catch up on. Instead of being forced to watch the debate on YouTube or looking for the transcript, I was there. Nothing beats that.
