Rarely does a college reporter have to fight tooth and nail with national journalists from Fox News, The Boston Globe, the Associated Press, The Financial Times and The Guardian from England and ABC News in order to get a story.
But last Friday, fellow journalist Seth Bartee and I had to do just that in the press room for North Carolina Sen. John Edwards at his presidential campaign stop in Bristol, Tenn.
It is easy to dismiss a crowd of photographers, journalists and a scrum of supporters surrounding a celebrity or politician as just normal. It is what we’ve come to expect when watching the news or reading the morning paper.
However, when you see it in real life as a part of that mob, that perspective changes greatly.
The privilege of being a college reporter, whose work will be read by only a few thousand students on this campus, standing next to a reporter from The Washington Post, whose work will be read by millions of people all over the world, and covering the same story was a definitely humbling experience.
When Edwards tried to make his way to the podium for his speech, he was immersed in a sea of hands to shake, babies to kiss and cameras at which to smile.
It took a solid 5 minutes for him to travel less than 150 feet from his entrance to the podium because of the throng of people surrounding him at all times.
He took even longer to make his way to the pressroom after the speech ended.
With a circle of fans ten rows deep crowding around him in every direction, he resembled a very strong magnet attracting hundreds of paper clips.
It wasn’t very different in the pressroom.
As members of the press, Seth and I were given access to the pressroom containing journalists from all over the world.
There were over 20 reporters competing to get as close as possible to Edwards to take pictures, ask questions and record his answers on tape.
The night before, I received advice from Sam Watson, a reporter from The Johnson City Press, on what to expect in a pack of reporters. He told me that I needed to get my voice heard and to not be afraid to jump in the fray when I saw the opportunity.
When Edwards came into the pressroom, the professional reporters immediately began asking questions. The flow of conversation between them and Edwards was so smooth in transition and quick between question and answer that it was impossible to butt in to ask a question.
The reporters didn’t even try to get his attention, they just blurted out spontaneous questions following up to questions asked before.
Bartee and I witnessed all of this quickly becoming instant national news.
Also, the open-ended questions that I had already prepared were more about describing himself as a candidate and his position on key issues than the breaking news that was appearing before me. Almost all the questions and answers were about a Senate appropriations bill that would protect veterans’ benefits that Edwards had apparently voted against during his term in Congress.
This was news that had just been revealed earlier in the day by retired Gen. Wesley Clark, one of his opponents in the presidential race. Who knew?
With three reporters separating us from Edwards, Bartee and I struggled to get our digital audio recorders (a must-have in modern journalism) within range of hearing the questions and answers.
Edwards left the pressroom after five minutes of answering questions, so I settled for his press secretary answering two of my questions.
Seeing just one man draw such a response from hundreds of supporters and dozens of journalists can make anyone automatically have more respect for the rigors of a presidential campaign.
Edwards has been making appearances similar to the campaign stop at the Bristol YWCA for almost a year. Take a moment to stop and think about what that would be like. Imagine that you have to spend eight months waking up in a different city every day, meeting thousands of strangers, answering random questions, constantly facing the heat of a spotlight and blinding flash photography, and all the while, you’re having to appear as comfortable, kind and not making any mistakes. Who would WANT to do this?
Playing a very small role of an extremely large world media following every move of a presidential candidate, even for just one day, changed my perspective of politics, the media, and the lives of everyone stuck in between. I have a much greater respect and sympathy for ANYONE who is surrounded by a mob of journalists, even President Bush, and I understand firsthand how the news process really works.

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