Nearly Naked Mile

Despite what I said in a previous post about disliking event coverage, I covered another event for my Web Journalism class. Each week, several people in my class are "Newshouse reporters," so we pick from stories available that week and do them. When I received the list of the week, most were events, and I chose the one I thought I'd have the most fun with. It was really between an academic lecture and the Nearly Naked Mile run at SU. I chose the latter. The event was the first-ever at SU (though other universities have held them in the past), hosted by the SU Triathlon club to raise money for themselves and the community. Read: "Runners Strip Down for a Good Cause." The event started at 8, ended at about 8:30, came home, transcribed all the interviews I had and then went to bed, woke up early, and wrote the story. It takes me so long to write! I really need to improve. Also, I need to realize when writing for the Newshouse, that it's still very much news. I spent so much time trying to capture the feel of the event and trying to be creative, and then my editor shortened my piece to reveal only the most important information about the event.

Well, it was wild. I arrived at about 7:15 to the registration table to talk to people and only the members of the club were there. All really friendly people. Joseph Prosnitz, who I mention in the story, was one of the first people I interviewed (I had interviewed Dan Larkin, who was also there, earlier in the day, and Paul Knepley via phone the day before). When I met him, he was jumping up and down and talking extremely fast. He's hyper and he talks a lot. For the record, I interviewed him for about 10 minutes and he was jumping THE WHOLE TIME. Not exaggerating, I was pretty dizzy after our interview ended. But he's a funny kid, and I thought the perfect person to lead my story with. Members weren't sure about the turnout because it was cold and raining--not hard, but enough to possibly discourage participants. But half hour before the event started, people started showing up. Some included older women from the community wearing bunny ears, Mike Collins (mentioned in story) in his orange suit, and girls with painted faces dressed to win the race's SU Spirit contest. Fun crowd, I'd say.

The transition from quiet crowd of few, mostly clothed, people to a LOUD, large crowd of nearly naked, people happened so fast. Next thing you know, Dan is standing on the bus stop yelling from a megaphone, vying for everyone's attention. Everyone just seemed so excited, but also really cold and anxious for the event to start. But for the most part, I think a lot of people felt thrilled to say that they participated in such an event. Honestly, most students probably just wanted an excuse to be able to strip and run around campus. Actually, I'm pretty sure of it, haha.

Anyway, after a while my hands were numb and I could barely take my recorder out of my pocket, let alone take notes. I always underestimate the way my body will react to the weather when I'm out on an assignment. Journalists on TV make it look so effortless. Luckily, I also managed to take a few photographs because the photographer the Newshouse sent had "technical difficulties." My photos aren't great by ANY means and I was bummed to hear that the photographer couldn't capture anything because I think there was opportunity to take some really great shots. I just sort of took mine for proof that the event happened, haha. But it shows I need to stay on top of these things and, in the future, take as many good photos as I can, even if I'm not assigned to.

By the end, I was freezing (literally had to stop in a building on my way home so my feet could defrost) but happy I went. The one thing I want to end this event coverage post with is an observation about myself. I think I've alluded to this in the past but journalism, in many ways, has been my excuse--an excuse for my shy self to step out into the world and ask the many questions that exist in my mind that I'd otherwise be afraid to ask. I'm not saying journalism is the only reason, but it's definitely been a great factor in helping me conquer that timidness, and fear. I'm still not the most outgoing person you'll ever meet. It still takes me a lot of courage to be the first to speak, or the first to walk up to someone and introduce myself, and I usually don't do it unless I have to. But that's my point. Because of journalism I've had to. Friday was a challenge because there was a lot of down time and I couldn't just sit there and observe, so I walked up to a bunch of people, introduced myself and asked questions. Because I haven't really covered events, I haven't had to do interviews in that way. (I don't mind talking to people--I love it--it's the approaching that's difficult). But I knew I couldn't just stand there and watch. What if that one person has a great story? A great anecdote? The quote that will make the piece? An angle I never thought of? The fear of missing something combined with the pressure of the impending deadline and the desire to do good work forces me to brave myself and walk up to someone, extend my arm, shake their hand, and start a conversation.

I'm extremely grateful to journalism for that.