Thursday, January 22, 2009

20th annual Scripps Howard Celbrity Superbowl Poll

Every year Scripps Howard News Service polls about 130 celebrities asking them which team they think will win the Super Bowl, their best guess at the final score and why. The poll is then published by about 300 newspapers and Web sites across the country during the few days before the Super Bowl.

We were each assigned three people to try to contact, some have participated in the past and will be easy to get ahold of, and some have not. My job is to contact Ringo Starr, Stephen Colbert and Dick Vitale.

Amazing.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Obama's inauguration

My inauguration experience was surreal. There were so many people who, despite the freezing cold, were completely joyous. I blogged about my entire day for The Detroit News.
















Monday, January 19, 2009

Inauguration tickets

I went to Sen. Carl Levin's office earlier today to find people from Michigan who will be attending the inauguration tomorrow. The senator's office was open all day for people who needed to pick up their tickets. I interviewed a lot of very excited people, among them, Michigan state Senator Martha Scott and Michigan surgeon general Kimberlydawn Wisdom. I blogged about it for The Detroit News, too.

Now I'm back at the office. I just finished a story on a band from South Carolina that is marching in the parade tomorrow. The story will likely run in the Anderson Independent, a Scripps newspaper.

Because Metro will be slammed tomorrow, we are all sleeping at the office tonight. We'll be leaving early tomorrow morning to report on the day's events.

Sunday, January 18, 2009

The pre-inaugural concert at the Lincoln Memorial

We reported on the concert today, getting crowd reactions and photos from near the Washington Monument, which is about a mile from the Lincoln Memorial. The crowd was huge and it was difficult to get around, but I did get to talk to quite a few people from all over the country and the world.

One guy I interviewed was a student in the states, but a citizen of Nigeria. Another man from London said he came to D.C. just to be a part of what is "a moment of hope for the whole world." It was a lot of fun, but pretty tiring. Also, the crowd made riding Metro nearly impossible, so we walked with our frozen feet back to the office.

Street Sense and the pre-inaugural concert

I finished my first story yesterday. It was a preview of the inaugural parade and it highlighted a few of the more than 90 groups selected to march.

The other day I bought a copy of Street Sense for the suggested donation of $1. Street Sense is Washington's only newspaper written, produced and distributed by the homeless. Seventy-five cents goes to the vendor and 25 cents helps fund the production of the paper. The articles mostly focus on social issues and homelessness. It is one of about 25 papers of its kind across the country. The main article in this week's edition was about violence against the homeless, specifically the story of one homeless man who was killed while sleeping outside in December. The paper also highlighted a few of its staff members, telling their stories and successes since working for the paper. One staff member said he had been working for the paper for a few months and can now afford some sort of independent housing. I think Lansing would benefit from having a similar paper.

Today the group is going to cover the pre-inaugural concert at the Lincoln Memorial. The concert will begin at about 2:30 p.m., though we will be arriving early to get photos, video and "crowd color."

Friday, January 16, 2009

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

First impressions: Washington

I arrived in DC less than one week ago but, so much has happened since then, it feels much longer.
Monday was my first day of my internship with the Scripps Howard Foundation and it went very well. It was basically just a day-long orientation. I am one of six Scripps Howard interns. The office I work in is nice and I was happy to be assigned to a desk that looks out of a large, 10th floor window.

Tuesday we went to the Capitol and received our press passes. We toured the Senate and House chambers, rode the underground trains and had lunch at one of the Senate buffets. Before lunch we stood amidst reporters and photographers eagerly waiting to catch a glimpse of Obama, on his way to a lunch with the Democratic caucus. While waiting we saw John Kerry and Joe Leiberman, and even more exciting, Hillary Clinton passed me in a crowded hall, and was just inches from me and the rest of the group!

Today we started our first stories, which are all previews of the inauguration and related events. I am working on a parade story, since I was given the foundation's only press pass for the inaugural parade on Tuesday. Unfortunately, I will not be attending the swearing-in ceremony.