Pamela King '10
GalleryWatch - Washington DCAs an intern at a news publication that reports on Congress, I have experienced a number of exciting situations. I have had the opportunity to report on Congressional committee hearings, witnessing the wrath of Senator Barbara Boxer, the passion of Senator Bernie Sanders and the sleepy voice of Congressman Dennis Kucinich. I have attended meetings with Simon Rosenberg, president of NDN, and Senator Charles Schumer to discuss their expectations of Barack Obama’s presidency.
I have to admit, it was an intimidating experience sometimes. Not only was I sitting in front of prominent personalities, I was also working among them. I spent the semester interning at GalleryWatch, the legislative tracking service affiliated with the newspaper Roll Call. When I was sent out on assignment I was working for our wire service, CongressNow. CongressNow happens to be one of the few news publications that sends out interns to meetings and Congressional hearings and markups. So although many of my fellow reporters were young, they were not interns. They were professional, full-time reporters with a lot of experience and knowledge on what they were covering. These people became my colleagues, and eventually I came to know many of them as I continued to return to the press tables in the Senate and House hearing rooms.
It was the first time I have had a real reporting job. Sure, I have written for the Northeastern News and other community publications, but it was the first time I fully immersed myself in the practice of journalism, and I came out loving it.
My favorite work experience was reporting on Senator Ted Steven’s trial for Roll Call. It was about 2 p.m. on a Friday, and I did not have anything planned for the rest of the day. I was sitting down to upload documents to gallerywatch.com when one of the CongressNow editors sent me down to the courthouse to watch Stevens testify about home improvements to his Alaska chalet.
I ran the blocks separating my office and the courthouse, met the Roll Call reporter who had spent weeks reporting on the trial and made my way into the courtroom. I was instructed to watch the jury’s reaction to Stevens’ testimony to provide color to the story of the Roll Call reporter who was watching the trial on four television monitors on another floor of the building.
Stevens provided excellent testimony – he never wavered under the pressure of the prosecuting attorney. Although he was eventually found guilty of corruption, Stevens was confident throughout his trial, and he was also kind. He even took time to greet members of the audience during a break.
Working on election night was another great experience. Although I did not make my way down to the election parties or the riots at the White House, I did enjoy my night in the office, tracking Congressional races and sending information to the Roll Call offices. My co-workers and I ate dinner together and laughed at the absurd technology some networks were using to draw in viewers. For example, CNN beamed in a reporter’s hologram and spent much of the night talking about the technology whenever there were dull moments in their race coverage.
My internship was only one aspect of my semester, however. I attended a class called Population, Gender and the Environment every Wednesday after work. Many of my classmates were from Mexico, and I had the opportunity to talk with them about sustainable development projects in their home cities. I now consider many of them good friends.
I spent my weekends visiting museums and monuments. I fell in love with Old Town Alexandria in Virginia – mostly because it reminded me so much of Boston. I attended the arrival ceremony of the prime minister of Italy at the White House and stood feet away from President George Bush, First Lady Laura Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. I had the opportunity to join a group of friends in a march on the National Mall to protest Proposition 8, which eliminated the right for gay couples to marry in California. It was powerful to watch both gay and straight people marching the city against the backdrop of the Capitol building to passionately defend their position. The march ended at the White House but not before a torrential downpour drenched all of us to our skin.
My semester in Washington, D.C. has provided me with work experience, writing samples and lifelong friends, but I am looking forward to using everything I have learned this semester to enhance and enrich the rest of my time at Northeastern.
-Pamela King