The Ultimate Test: Can’t Stop Won’t Stop: RNC Day 3

These two, back-to-back conventions are the ultimate test. Am I am really cut out for this journalism thing?

16 hour days, $15 convention lunch, 14 days of straight reporting from the DNC/RNC? Exhaustion set in even before the conventions started, while I was covering Rock the Bells in Denver. The days seem to be getting longer, and my bags heavier.

Like a dedicated journalist, I keep on keepin’ on.

The past two weeks at the conventions, I have assisted Davey D, seasoned journalist and Hip Hop activist out of the Bay Area. It has truly been an honor, and I have learned so much from this incredible journalism training camp.

We are one bad media team. Watch us in action:



Training camp- that’s exactly what this is! I have learned valuable field tactics, interview strategies, the importance of filing before the sun comes up so you actually get some sleep and of course, that eating is not optional. Sounds like the military training, huh?

Journalists are true soldiers, and I respect the sweat and muscle that goes into getting the story to the people. You can film from a building top, or you can be right down in the mix with the people.

Take for instance, the incredible amount of walking that we have done for the conventions. I spent over an hour on Monday, literally running backwards in front of marchers to get the shot, and then I had a sprinting contest with the anarchists on Shepard Road, dodging rubber bullets and tear gas. The incredible amounts of danger we put ourselves in? That’s right: tear gas, pepper spray, rubber bullets, and arrest [Enter Amy Goodman and hundreds more RNC journalists].

As I wrap up for the evening at 4am, I still haven’t been able to reflect on what the day has brought me, and the millions of people watching Governor Palin’s speech, or performance, as the news so eloquently calls it.

Keep updated. Now I will return home and plot out my questions for my Ralph Nader interview at 3:15pm.

I'll let you know if I'm cut out for this after my vacation.