Covering elections

There are few more exciting nights for a daily reporter than election night. That was true as a Providence Journal copy editor too. When I was copy editing at the Journal, there was a buzz on Election night that I'd feel as soon as I entered the newsroom.

Of course, the strange thing is that there is always this waiting waiting waiting that has to happen. Then the news, all fast and compressed and crazy. And you work and work and work and hope that your work is halfway decent.

This year, I worked the primary solo. My editor was out of town on another work assignment. The videotaping was great - I was happily surprised to find so many willing participants. But by the time I was writing up my stories at the end of the night, I felt woefully unprepared. Why hadn't I compiled a list of the candidates? I was scrambling for the most basic information and feeling foolish. I vowed to be better prepared come the regular election.

Well, I was. Pretty much.

Still, once the returns were announced, I found myself jerking between video, still camera and notebook, trying to figure out what to do first. In the end, the video camera at Town Hall was a bust. No real point to it (although of course you never know ... ). It would have served me better to be ready with the camera (I almost was!) and worry about quotes later.

Writing was harder than I thought it would have been. I sat there, beer and notes nearby, unable to put a sentence together for a while. Finally, the words started coming. Maybe I got a good angle on my particular story. Or maybe not. But, as my editor says, you've got to feed the beast. It got fed. Still, I hope I'll be more prepared next time!