Charleston, baby!

So I'm back in Washington from an 8-hour ride from Charleston for the debate. And I have to say that the highlight of the entire trip wasn't getting to see the Presidential Candidates again, nor going back to the Spin Room and actually knowing what I'm doing.

It's the after party.

After spending much time in the spin room and being able to take some pictures with Rep. Dennis Kucinich, Howard Dean and Obama girl, we went to the post-debate party at a former bus terminal near the city's visitor center. There were lots of food, free drinks, pool tables and lots of press people to talk to.

I was telling my fellow interns how disappointed I was that I went all that way to watch one of my journalist heroes, Anderson Cooper, moderate the debate in one building, while the rest of the media camped out in the media filing center across the Citadel campus. As we rode the bus to the party, I thought, there was no way that Anderson Cooper would be in the party, because he would be swamped all night.

Well, I never said I predicted the future.

I was hovering over the dessert table when my friend and fellow intern, Candace looked at me with wide eyes and said, "Sheena, just breathe." She didn't have to say another word. She knew how much I wanted to meet Anderson Cooper, we've been talking about him all summer. All I could say was, "Shut up, shut up!" Oh, how articulate.

I handed her my drink so it wouldn't spill because my knees buckled. Of course, she couldn't hold the drink either because she was shaking as well. We weaved through the crowd until I saw that familiar head of silver and eyes of blue. I thought, "Oh crap, no way," as my mouth said, "Shut up."

My other fellow intern, Heather, spoke to him first and told him that I wanted to meet him. He looked to the girl standing next to me and said, "Hi Sheena, it's nice to meet you." Heather then told him that I was Sheena and he shook my hand. I told him how I admired his reporting and I read his book and loved it. And then, we took this picture:

Oh, happiness. That made an eight-hour ride worth all the while.

Tourists : a city's necessary evil

I love to travel. One of these days, I'd like to be a foreign correspondent and just travel everywhere. Or, just take Samantha Brown's job on the Travel Channel and get paid to go from one amazing city to another.

Whenever I go, I consider myself a traveler. The word "tourist" just irks me. It brings to mind those unfortunate souls with cameras hanging from their necks and fanny packs around their waists. Shudder.

It's tourist season in Washington and there are a lot of groups in their bright shirts, traveling in packs of 458, and being herded from one picture spot to another. Yes, they're the ones who forget to turn their flashes off when taking a picture of a Monet in the Art Gallery, the ones whose "Marco" wait for a "Polo" response on the steps of a memorial for one of our greatest Presidents, and, (I saved the best for last) the ones who stand on the left side of the escalator.

I was a tourist here once. And I still don't consider myself a local.

But I think that tourist destinations should conduct a "Welcome to (insert city name here) Tourist Information Session." An orientation. Make this tourist a traveler.

Before I arrived here in DC, I thought living in the middle of downtown Washington would be the best thing ever! You know, sit on the steps of the National Art Gallery and do work with my laptop, see the Washington Monument from my bedroom window all lit up for the night, walk from my apartment to any Smithsonian museum. So when I first found out that I was living in Arlington, VA, about 4 stops in the Metro out of the district, I was kinda disappointed.

Well, not anymore. I love the feel of my little Ballston neighborhood. I didn't even go anywhere near the Mall for Memorial Day weekend, much more the Fourth of July. I didn't want to deal with the tourists who have come to invade ... they're everywhere!!!

So far, my best defense has been my Capitol Press Badge. There was a long line to go through security from the Cannon House Building to the U.S. Capitol, and I was running to a press conference. I proceeded to the front of the line. The security person then said to the other security person, "Let her go. She's press" and motioned for me to go through. Oh the privilege a little piece of plastic can give...

But I guess tourists are important to the city's economy - they are necessary. A necessary evil.

So how about that orientation that I suggested earlier?

Just a little senseless rant. I feel much better now.

To Charleston for Anderson

So today I found out I'm going to Charleston, SC to help cover the Democratic Presidential Debates.

Yay!

It's moderated by CNN this time and they're partnering with YouTube.

Yay!

Same candidates that I've seen over and over again around Capitol Hill as the last debate at Howard University. Also, I'll probably hear about the same issues and the same promises they all have said before. Clinton, Obama, Edwards, Richardson, Dodd, Biden, Gravel and Kucinich.

Yay.

By the way, Anderson Cooper is the host.

OH YEAH!!!
I HEART ANDERSON COOPER!

I love my job!

Today I got to go to an event in the Capitol that has happened only 139 times in the country's 231-year history. Pretty impressive, huh?



Okay, in the center, that's Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Dr. Norman Borlaug, President Bush and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

Dr. Borlaug was being awarded the Congressional Gold Medal for being the Father of the Green Revolution. He was credited to feeding 1 billion people. The Medal is the highest honor that Congress can bestow on anybody. The first person to receive the medal was George Washington in 1776.

And yes, I got to cover it this morning. Woo-hoo!

A different challenge

I think it's safe to say that television journalism is my first love.

It all started when a 9th grader was asked to read the morning announcements LIVE on closed-circuit TV for Mandarin High's Mustang News. The studio lights went on, the director counted down, the cameras rolled ... and she was head over heels in love.

That was almost eight years ago (hmmm...now I feel old). But this time, I know it takes a whole lot more than reading school events that were submitted in the announcement folder in the front office. It takes instinct to look for stories. It takes guts to go up to strangers and ask tough questions. It takes confidence to get in front of the camera and speak like you're an expert. It requires hard work, talent, dedication. And yes, it requires that you go into the field out of love for what you do, or the people your work will affect, because fame is not enough of an incentive and money is not an incentive at all.

So when people ask me why I'm currently doing a radio journalism internship as if I'm wasting my time, I give one of the following answers: I'm not in it for the pay, and it's a different challenge, it's good experience.

Here are the links to the packages that I have edited so far:
Live Earth
Clinton's Club 44

Some of my favorite quotes of the summer

The friendships that I have made over the summer are definitely to keep. TWC interns are some of the most fun and diverse people that I have ever met and I will miss them all when we finally leave this city. But the memories will go with me ... lots of really good memories ... and these are just some of my favorite quotes. No explanations necessary.

Here they are in no particular order:

1. About the Nationals mascot during a game...
Sanchelle: Look at that chicken.
Me: I think it's a bald eagle.
Sanchelle: That's the frumpiest eagle I've ever seen.

2. A Georgetown pick-up line for a med student with his shirt unbuttoned ...
Tiffany: I'm from Kentucky and girls from the South likes to unbutton shirts. So I'm gonna go ahead and button this up for you so I can unbutton it later.
Med Student (who will remain unnamed): I'm intrigued.

3.On weird names...
Jana: Prince became The Artist Formerly Known as Prince
Sarah: So what's his name?
Jana: The Artist Formerly Known as Prince.
Sarah: That's weird. Shouldn't it have some sort of a name in the beginning, like, John, the Artist Formerly Known as Prince.

4. On Mexican food...
Candace: I want some fajitas (pronounced fah-jay-tahs)

5. On being tired at work:
Me: Anything can sound dirty when you're tired. Like "Download Attachment" for example...

6. On answering the phone...
Jana: It's so hard for me to be nice to people.

7. On yourself and friends...
Sanchelle: I'm so sexy. I told you my friends are sexy.

Haha...I'm sure there are more to come...

My best political blog yet...

Today I attended a press conference with four Senate Democrats who are speaking to respond to President Bush's remarks on the newly released Iraq Report Card. While the President is using to justify the need to keep the troops in Iraq, the Democrats are using it to make the point that troops need to be redeployed out of Iraq. I watched the President's speech on CNN before I left for the press conference in the Senate Studio at the Capitol.

But I think this is the most detailed and by far the best I've written so far...
Click here to see it as a blog posted on our bureau Web site.

===========================================================

Senate Democrats called for a press conference in response to President Bush's speech on the progress and benchmark assessments in Iraq. They expressed their concern on the report that Al-Qaeda may have regained the strength it had in 2001. They also called on their Republican colleagues to join them in voting for a change in the course in Iraq.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) criticized the Bush Administration's claims that "good progress is being made" in the war in Iraq. He said that the American public has heard that statement repeatedly and that the time to change the course is now. He accused some Republicans of protecting the President over protecting the troops and, along with Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), called on their conservative counterparts to vote on the legislation to redirect the course of the war.

The legislation is the Levin-Reid Amendment, which will be voted on by members of the Senate next week. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said that this legislation, unlike many that have been proposed before, has more than just an advisory and goal-setting agenda. He said that it will require a change of course in Iraq, take the troops away from fighting the ongoing civil war and will refocus the country on the war that it should be fighting in the first place - the war on terror, as opposed to the war in Iraq. Reid also added that it is time to "take the training wheels off" of Iraq and give the Iraqi people the responsibility over their own freedoms. In addition, Reid said that although the amendment does not completely remove all troops from Iraq, their numbers will not be equal to what it is now and they will not be in combat.

This legislation is being put forward despite of the President's earlier statement during his news conference that running a war through resolution is a recipe for failure. The President also said that Congress should not be running the war, but funding it instead. In response, Durbin said that the President is "out of touch" with both the war and the American public, and that the released benchmark assessment reports give him "little hope" for victory in the war.

Schumer continued to criticize the Bush Administration's war policies when he compared the President's remarks on the report of the renewed strength of Al-Qaeda to the President's now infamous claim of "weapons of mass destruction." Schumer said that the President and his supporters "ignore the facts" when the facts differ from their views and that the report is a reflection of "how wrong this war in Iraq is." Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) said that the Democrats are united in a desire to change the course in Iraq and bring the troops home. But as for the Republicans who are vocal about increasingly isolating themselves from the President's Iraq war policies, Schumer called on them to support the Levin-Reid Amendment, challenging them to "put their money where their mouth is."

What happened to the Pinay in weeks two through five???

Hmmm...I thought I was going to be able to keep up with a blog during this whole time, but, yet again, I was proved wrong.

So much to do in so little time. Yes, I have ten weeks, but DC is way too amazing a place to live and work in to actually be able to experience everything in two and a half months.

But to say the least, what an amazing five weeks it has been, and I'm looking forward to the last five :)

I have been able to do so many things that so many other journalists around the country can't say they have done before their 22nd birthday, much more before they even started their careers.

News conferences with influential people: Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi on climate changes. Sen. Ted Kennedy and Sen. Mel Martinez on immigration reform. Sen. John Kerry on alternative fuel sources.

Senate Committee Hearings on Capitol Hill: Sen. Barack Obama on voter intimidation. Sen. Patrick Leahy on the firing of U.S. Attorneys. Sen. Bill Nelson on terrorist ideology.

Other events in politics: Sen. Hillary Clinton's launch of her Club 44 campaign. Take Back America Conference on progressive reform. The Democratic Presidential Debate at Howard and the Spin Room afterwards. The first open forum between the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee and the Russian Duma Foreign Relations Committee. The Iraqi ambassador on What America needs to know about Iraq. Roll call at the Senate Floor on the motion to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed about comprehensive immigration reform.

All this and more with what is right now one of my cherished possessions: U.S. Capitol Press Badge.

I never really found politics interesting before I started this internship. I mean, I was a registered voter (not affiliated, and I'll keep it that way...at least for now), but politics was a topic that bored me to tears. Now I'm loving each and every time I am able to listen in on committee hearings and listen to what each senator/representative has to say, and then listen to what their plans are to change it. Contrary to popular belief, there are really many politicians who are genuinely trying to make a difference. Really!

And also, (can't believe this perception has changed in five weeks) I used to be a total stickler on what I consider to be news. Straightforward, objective, hellfire and brimstone. In light of the events of an heiress, her time behind bars and the attention that the media gave, I was honestly ready to pull my hair out. CNN, MSNBC and Fox all had the same story on the air when, on the same day, the fate of the immigration reform had yet to be determined, a Kansas girl was still missing, and the race for the Presidency was in full swing. (In other news, Sheena is officially a news junkie.)

But my professor (yes, I also have to take a class) cleared it out for me. One, that's news. If people aren't interested, there wouldn't be news. People happen to be interested in the life of a spoiled heiress, which make it news. But, aside from the celebrity, it also has something to say about our judicial system and the privileges it may give to people with money/power/fame. Two, news can never be truly objective because journalists are people. We have convictions and opinions and it will show through in the way we write. If journalists are truly here to affect change, then yes, we will write about subjects we are passionate about. In the tradition of the muckrakers, it's a journalists' job to question the status quo and you can't really do that if everything is as objective as a robot. Objectivity and fairness does not mean the same thing, because fair is what a journalist should really be.

So, that's the work part of my stay in Washington so far. Well, calling it "work" would be untrue, because it's way too much fun.

But, as always, all work and no play...well, you know the rest. But that's for another time.