Idea File Fall 2024

10 | Picture This

DO WE BELONG? First and foremost, yes.

Student journalists are journalists. They may be learning on the job, but they are still journalists. This point has been reinforced time and time again. Students have the same rights as journalists who are paid to report on these events. Students who attend and take photos of the events own the rights to those photos. You can use those photos in your yearbook or publication just as you would with any student activity. The process for acquiring press credentials is the same. In most cases, if you are covering a rally sponsored by a candidate, you obtain your press credentials through the campaign’s website. Unfortunately, this sometimes requires you to sign up for emails and announcements, which will flood your inbox. When an event is about to occur – and it can be on very short notice – you must fill in the media credentials form online. This requires you to input your name, contact information, publication, editor/supervisor, position and your reason for coverage. WHAT SHOULD WE DO WHEN WE GET THERE? Most political events are set up the same way now. Here are some things your students can expect. Before the event, the reporter should receive an email saying whether or not they have press credentials to cover it. Encourage your students to print this email and bring it to the event, along with a driver’s license or school ID and their press pass. Most events will have two arrival times for the press, and both are really early. If your team is bringing a video camera and tripod that requires space, look for the media drop arrival time. This could be three to four hours before the event and may require you to leave your equipment and return later. This allows security to check your equipment for anything that could be dangerous. If you are just bringing a camera for still photography, you can arrive when media is allowed to enter. The media will always have a second media-only entrance separate from the public. The general public is not allowed to enter here. Once inside the event, there are usually three areas for media (this is where your students will be). A riser is usually located in the back, directly across from the stage and podium. This riser is typically full of national and local affiliates. Finding space here is challenging. Most of it is marked off with tape for the biggest mainstream media outlets. The second riser is usually on the side, with more space for still photographers. It is typically a good distance from the stage but not as far as the main riser.

On the Record. Royals media staffers speak to a Virginia legislator in his chambers before the 2019 vote on New Voices legislation in Richmond, Virginia. The staff frequently visited and photographed individuals running for office or in office. The experience developed important journalistic skills . Photo by Chris Waugaman

A Historic Campaign. At a campaign stop at Booker T. Washington, in Virginia, 2020, presidential candidate Joe Biden speaks before Super Tuesday. This would be the last rally before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down in-person events. Biden went on to win the Democratic nomination and named Kamala Harris as his vice presidential pick. Photo by Carter Marks