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COM students savor Granitepalooza at New Hampshire primary
By Brian Fitzgerald
The overflow crowd waves banners, pumps fists, and chants “Ker-ry!” Ker-ry!” About 40 College of Communication students slowly but purposefully wedge their way into strategic positions at the presidential candidate's war veterans rally in Manchester, N.H. People are packed shoulder-to-shoulder in the small auditorium, and the media are determined to get as close as they can to the stage.
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John Kerry holds six-month-old Rayna Ross after speaking at Daniel Webster College in Nashua, N.H., on January 21. Photo by Ed Wozniak (COM'04) |
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How desperate are photographers and camera people to get that perfect angle? Some brought their own stepladders, much to the chagrin of others. They bicker. Every so often there's a faux-polite sneer of “Excuuusse meee!” to someone blocking their view. When a roar from the assemblage makes it apparent that the Massachusetts senator is entering the room, three people -- reporters? Kerry supporters? -- can be seen under the bleachers crawling combat-style on their bellies toward the front.
COM Journalism Professor James Thistle promised his students that the frenzied days before the New Hampshire democratic primary would be an unforgettable experience, but it's safe to say that none of them are prepared for an atmosphere that at times resembles a rock concert, with popping flashbulbs, hovering sound booms, cheers, whistles, and thunderous ovations. Welcome to Granitepalooza: the first-in-the nation presidential primary.
Thistle, who has been running COM bus trips to New Hampshire since the 1992 election season, says the experience for journalism students is invaluable. “There is nothing like covering a presidential campaign, especially while there is still a full field of candidates,” he says. Every day from January 20 to 27, a bus left COM at 8 a.m. for the WCVB Channel 5 news bureau in Manchester, returning at 5 p.m. Participating students have been writing stories and taking photos for a journalism department Web site: http:// granite2004.bu.edu. They also plan to post links to their broadcast coverage on the site, and eventually release a full-color magazine on the experience. Some students have been writing for outside publications, including Brittany Oat (COM'07), who had a story published in Connecticut's Norwich Bulletin.
Muscle if necessary
“I'm from Arkansas, and part of the reason I chose to attend BU were opportunities such as this,” says Matt Lynch (COM'06). “How many schools give a 19-year-old the chance to go up to New Hampshire and cover a primary for a presidential election?”
Broadcast journalism majors Dan Seed (COM'04) and Adam Ostrowski (COM'04) are obviously pumped up on the bus. “This is something that I've always wanted to do,” says Seed, who as a broadcast reporter has teamed up with camera operator Ostrowski before. Is he ready to get aggressive in the midst of the media frenzy? “I think we're pretty well prepared for this,” he says. “As a team, we've had to move our way through a crowd before. We covered an antiwar rally on Boston Common, and people were pushing a lot down there. But we were able to edge our way in. We know what we have to do. We're going to get in and get out,” and not interfere with all the major media. “But at the same time,” he says, “they've got to respect us.”
Ostrowski agrees. “These packages that we're filming -- we don't have another chance to get a better shot,” he says. “We can't hang around all week like the major networks and other people up there. And as Dan said, this isn't the first time we've had to jockey for position. We've done it before, and I'll use muscle if necessary.”
After an hour-long trip, the bus stops at Manchester's WMUR television studios, where WCVB has a news bureau. The students gather around a table, and Thistle briefs his troops, handing out the day's candidate campaign itineraries. “John Edwards has an event up in Concord at 10:30, and Kerry has a rally in Manchester at noon,” says Thistle. “For those who want to get back on the bus and go to Concord, the plan is to stay at the Edwards appearance for half an hour, and the half-hour ride back to Manchester should give you plenty of time to get to the Kerry speech.” But, he warns, there are no guarantees. Candidates sometimes run late. “You can also stay here at the studio and then go straight to the Kerry event,” he says.
Not playing it safe
Most students opt not to play it safe, getting back on the bus to hear Edwards' speech to workers at the Page Belting Company in Concord. Edwards, however, is a half-hour late. He finally enters the building's journalist-packed lunch room, and begins his attack on Washington lobbyists, credit card companies, and the Bush administration. “George Bush is in the middle of putting the [nation's] tax burden right on your backs,” he says. The BU students are taking it all in, but they're getting worried. They exchange troubled glances, not wanting to be late for the Kerry event. It's now 11:35. A few students take the lead and head to the exit, and the others join them. Then the bus takes a wrong road and has to make an awkward turnaround. It's 11:45, and they're still in Concord.
The bus pulls up to the Jewish Federation of Greater Manchester at 12:15, but fortunately for the budding journalists, Kerry is also running behind schedule. There is barely any room to stand. When Kerry enters the auditorium he looks confident, and for good reason: after his victory in the Iowa caucuses earlier in the week, Howard Dean's lead in New Hampshire has evaporated. Joining Kerry onstage are South Carolina Senator Ernest “Fritz” Hollings, a World War II veteran, who had endorsed Kerry the previous day, former Georgia Senator Max Cleland, a decorated Vietnam vet, and Jim Rassman of Oregon, whose life Kerry saved during combat in Vietnam.
Before introducing Kerry, Hollings takes a few swipes at the president. Then Kerry continues the Bush-bashing, blasting the administration's cuts in veterans benefits: “We're not going to take any lessons in patriotism from those who don't understand that the first definition of patriotism is keeping the faith with those who wore the uniform of our country.” The crowd erupts in thunderous applause.
At the end of the day, the students on the bus back to Boston are tired, and many somewhat undernourished -- having lived on coffee, nutrition bars, and candidates' free cookies for the last nine hours. But they are satisfied. “I'm an aspiring journalist, and this is a great chance to see something I've never seen before,” says journalism major Chelsea Hober (COM'04). “This comes along only once every four years. It's a unique event.”
29
January 2004
Boston University
Office of University Relations