I'm a fairly new journalist. I haven't had the experiences that many seasoned field reporters have. I don't have stories and I don't have a crazy interview history. I'm emerging -- budding, if you will -- so covering a presidential campaign event, really covering it, was exhilarating. I can tell that I'm in the right line of work and that Tuesday night was the beginning of my own stories.
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| More than 4,800 gather to hear Sanders speak at Morehouse College, Tuesday. Photo by Thomas Hartwell |
Bernie Sanders came to Morehouse College, Tuesday, and so did thousands of supporters. I arrived at 4:30, the event was set to start at 7, and began hunting for parking -- a challenge in the area. It wasn't that there weren't spots available or that there was already overwhelming traffic, but I didn't want to pay at a meter or embarrass myself with an attempt at parallel parking. I asked a couple police officers as I was driving to and fro, but received only a, "We don't know where the event is," before I could even roll my window all the way down. "Well, what about parking?" I said. "Don't know that either," they said. I eventually found a deck at Morehouse School of Medicine and talked a rather friendly parking attendant into letting me "borrow" a reserved spot for a few hours, which probably really meant "park illegally and pay me $5."
Shortly after getting out of my car, I noticed three women parading down the sidewalk in the direction of Morehouse's main campus, the eldest of the group sporting a tie-dye skirt and matching headband. Rosie Trimmer, as I was introduced to her, was garbed in what I can only describe as "hippie attire" to match her headband and skirt -- a description, I gathered, she would take as a compliment -- and she carried a homemade Bernie sign. The sign read, "4 generations + 4 women + 4 ever + 4 Bernie = '16' election. Vote with your soul!" I took a picture of the trio, wished them well, and took a moment to stand there and think through the night's do's and don'ts, letting my eyes blur before realizing I had no idea where I was supposed to go. Rosie and her group hadn't gotten far, though, and since I assumed they'd know where they were headed, I followed their lead.
Turns out, I parked MILES from Morehouse's Forbes Arena, where the rally was to be held, and when I finally got to the check-in line, it too was miles long (it wasn't literally miles, but without exaggeration, it probably stretched 3/4 of a mile). I stood in line for about 20 minutes until volunteers began walking along the sidewalk registering people via their smartphones. I showed them a press pass I had been provided by Kennesaw State University College of Communication and Media, and they sent me to the media entrance. I approached the media check-in table reluctantly -- I was only a lowly student journalist, and I was getting involved with hotshots from the Times, CNN and others. But working from the foundation of a piece of wisdom I have received from many throughout the years, "Look like you know what you're doing and no one asks any questions," I strutted up, gave them my name and said, "I'm with KSU News." I got in. My name was not on the press list, I was added and I was given a Bernie Sanders press pass.
I interviewed students of Morehouse College, local high school students and a 93-year-old Bernie supporter. The atmosphere was electrifying, Sanders' surrogates and his own speech were intense and passionate, but the rhetoric did not excite me as much as the people of the event. The people I talked to were, for the most part well-informed, excited and just as passionate as the candidate they backed. My experience showed me I'm in the right line of work. Being surrounded by thousands of people, snapping pictures left and right, just being amid the chaos gives me energy for my future in journalism.
If you want a hard news story for this event, check it out here.
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| Rosie Trimmer (left), April Gaffney and Tybee Trimmer (right) support Sanders with signs and attire. Photo by Thomas Hartwell |
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| Alexander Meyer, Morehouse College sophomore, prepares for Sanders' speech. Photo by Thomas Hartwell |
If you want a hard news story for this event, check it out here.
"Look like you know what you're doing and no one asks any questions,"
ReplyDeleteThis is what I do in college and its worked so far. I actually read one of your posts. Loved it. You write well and had my attention the whole time. Great job, just wished it had been something other than a Bernie rally.
Thanks, Nate!
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