EXERCISING THE FRANCHISE
THE LONGEST NIGHT
A GREAT CITY
AND HOTEL
Election night broadcasts were my favorite. It was all "in the moment," unscripted, spontaneous and adrenalin ripped.
Starting out I covered campaign or party headquarters, grabbing interviews and reporting on the numbers as received by the partisans. Later I would be at the anchor desk, cutting back and forth between field reporters, network feeds, interviewing candidates, moderating our analysts and reporting the numbers. Hundreds of people worked behind the scenes in a kind of full court press involving satellites, trucks, remotes, control rooms, computers, results and always the story was changing.
Some good journalists faltered in that kind of rapid fire circus, but I loved it. Ad libbing was no problem, and as long as the technology did what it was supposed to be, it was thrilling.
As a senior news executive I directed those hundreds of
people in that army of journalists and technology. I'd pace on the top tier of our multi leveled central control room, roam into the studios and work with our anchors and analysts or stand in my office watching 4 television sets and a computer screen. It was an ultimate adrenaline pump.
There was a time when I was brought back as the "senior analyst" meaning the old guy on the set who "had been there and done that." Think Tom Brokaw, today.
This evening I'll probably drive Lana crazy with my channel hopping, computer searching, texting, and phone calls with people around the country. It will be fun, with
no pressure, but I think perhaps the greatest thrill was my very first election night, covering a mayors race. At the end of a long night, our radio anchor had us all looped together in a "talk back" debrief where we shared our impressions. I remember driving home that night thinking, "Man, I've arrived in the big time!"
AND HOTEL
Yesteday's post was a bit of slap dash, iphone based view
of the Fairmont. Both it and San Francisco deserve a more deliberate treatment.
