What I've Learned

I'm not particularly good at covering events.

I don't particularly like covering events.

Last week, my professors for my Web Journalism & Innovation course required the class to live-tweet one of two events, a university lecture featuring either Eric Schlosser or James Balog.

I chose Eric Schlosser (an investigative journalist) simply because the James Balog event would occur at the same time as the Verbal Blend open mic, and I didn't want to miss it. My professors asked (as part of our participation grade) if anyone wanted to cover the event to accompany the live-tweets and a video interview. I volunteered because I thought, why not? I never covered an event and I would be there anyway. The lecture lasted two hours (4-6 pm) and my deadline was 8 pm. I interviewed several people after the event to get an audience reaction, then raced back to Newhouse to write it up. Anxiety x 1,000! I have so much respect for newspaper journalists who can turn around stories in such a short amount of time. It usually takes me at least two hours just to sift through my notes! I just need time when it comes to writing. The editor gave me a one hour extension, and of course the end result is not as good as I would like it to be. But I did it. In the end, I was actually pretty pleased with it, and I think the entire package has a lot to do with that.

I thought I could try it again with the Verbal Blend open mic. I pitched it to my professor who said that if I could write the article and take a decent photo, it wouldn't be a problem to get it on the site. I borrowed an SLR from the Newhouse cage, attempted to take photos in the dim-lit auditorium while recording and taking notes (fail), and speed-walked home after the 2-hour event ended, at almost 10 pm. And then, I couldn't do it. I was hungry, I was exhausted (barely slept the night before and had been up all day), and disappointed in myself. Right now, if I don't cover Verbal Blend, no one will and I wish I had completed the task. I'm excited to post about the event here though; twas a wonderful event. And I'm going to find other ways to get them on The Newshouse.