By Brandon Widder
From the moment we arrived in the city, it was clear that Washington D.C. is not Arcata. The bustling city boasts the most suit-wearing batch of people I have ever witnessed — probably because much of the U.S. Capital is employed by the government — and the sheer number people and sights to see are potentially endless. While we did get a chance to attend the Institute of Political Journalism conference and take a whirlwind tour of the city, the city certainly warrants another visit down the line.
On our first day in D.C., a few of us visited the a couple of Smithsonian museums and the Library of Congress. Later that day, we toured CNN courtesy of Professor Vicky Sama’s friend and colleague. We met Wolf Blitzer, host of the Situation Room, and talked with several other reporters and journalists about various tips, stories and the general nature of the evolving industry. The face-paced, competitive nature of the CNN was almost too much to take when compared to that of our small media industry on the North Coast, but it was great to see how a 24-hour news network in full swing.
“Thanks for bringing Humboldt State into the Situation Room.” - Wolf Blitzer
Friday and Saturday, the two days of our conference, included presentations by Lymari Morales (managing news editor of Gallup.com), members of the National Journal Hotline, Jared Keller (associate editor at the Atlantic magazine), Karen Travers (Washington-based correspondent for ABC NewsOnes) and Kenneth P. Vogel of Politico among others. I found many of the speakers techniques and tips for covering politics to echo much of what we have learned in the journalism program at HSU. For instance, I think many of us knew everything Morales of Gallup.com said because of Professor Mark Larson’s Empirical Research class. Needless to say, air high-fives were abundant. Overall, I left with a more developed sense of how to cover local and regional politics, how to utilize social media in the newsroom, and a plethora of small tips and tricks of the trade.
Before the conference, we toured the nearby NPR studios. It was also very interesting, but much different than CNN. We watched some broadcast recordings, took a look at some other their equipment and talked with several employees. Not as busy as CNN, not as fancy and much more monotone. Oh NPR.
On Saturday, we also took a tour of the Newseum — a new museum solely dedicated took the history and development of the journalism industry. It was basically a walking tour of Professor Marcy Burstiners’ History of Mass Communication class. It was a great museum with exhibits on 9/11 coverage, the evolution of broadcast journalism, newspapers from around the world and many other topics.
We spent Sunday touring the National Mall and taking in the sights. The weather was absolutely gorgeous — autumn was in the air and in the trees — and the monuments were a sight to behold. We also spent time at covering a protest outside the White House and throughout the streets of Washington D.C. (the 12,000 environmentalists didn’t seem too happy about the Keystone XL pipeline).
Washington D.C. gave us a chance to talk and network with both inspiring and aspiring journalists from across the nation and, at least for me, left me with a greater appreciation of the role of the press and a more optimistic outlet for the direction the industry is currently heading.
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