On television the previous night, I'd seen Prime Minister Julia Gillard alighting at Tamworth airport, Tony Windsor in tow, for the opening of a sports stadium. The Tamworth event organiser said the news of Gillard's presence at the opening had been embargoed till that morning. So she'll be on her way here tomorrow, I thought, just like we heard on the grapevine last month, and we won't find out about it until tomorrow.
Wednesday morning, I leapt out of bed when the bugle sounded at 6.30am, and quickly turned on the radio as if there might be an announcement that in Armidale today, Janene Carey would be covering the NBN launch by Julia Gillard. But I'd missed the start of the news and it wasn't till I was halfway through my shower that Chris popped his head around the door to say the visit was happening.
I opted for my suit and my purple shirt with the white ruffled neckline. The shirt is getting a bit old but goes well with the suit. Luckily I'd worn the suit to the office a few times since the colder weather began, so it wasn't going to look too try-hard if I wasn't chosen. I actually expected the gig would go to Peter Barrett, our news editor and most senior journalist, but he was committed elsewhere. Also wondered if it might be Mitch, as he's keen on politics and handled most of the Tony Windsor interviews last year when the three Independents suddenly became important. But it was me.
It was all a bit surreal. The editor said I should be at PLC at 11am, but visits to TAFE and UNE were also on the agenda for unknown times. Every phone number I rang trying to get a schedule diverted me to voicemail. Press releases kept lobbing into my inbox and Christian kept popping back to my desk with more tips and instructions augmenting what he'd said in the editorial meeting earlier. I was to do a quick, five para news story for the website, but was to focus mainly on peripheral stories of local importance because by the time we put out our next paper on Friday, all the hard news ground would have been well and truly trampled by everyone else. I was to provide the colour, the atmosphere, and the names of local folk - particularly children - who'd interacted with Julia. And I was to get 20-30 photos, including some to send to an expanding list of papers - Daily Leader, SMH, the Age, the Fin Review. And the Glen Innes Examiner, who'd called to say their mayor would be present and could I get a pic of him too, preferably with the PM?
As it turned out, the photos consumed most of my effort for the least impressive result and I don't think any of the metro papers used what I sent. Being short and not very assertive, I found myself at the back of the media pack at the most critical moments. I did try to think ahead and get in position, and I managed to take some decent pics of each speaker, but nothing stunning. I missed the money shot, when they all gathered around to press the button, as that was a riot of cameras and elbows. Luckily the next day Dave Elkins - the UNE photographer who is a handy six foot something - was kind enough to send me one he'd taken. Despite all the time I spent gliding from place to place and sitting crouched on the floor up the front of the room, my best photos ended up being the ones I'd done before the launch began, of Julia being greeted by the PLC head girls. The whole thing was a bigger spectacle than I'd anticipated, and having two people there - one concentrating on taking notes and talking to people and the other snapping photos and recording names would have been more effective.
At the press conference, I was struck by the boldness of the young female reporters, particularly one sporting jeans and long hair with an insouciant I'm-not-impressed-by-you attitude and no qualms at all about asking questions designed to be confrontational. I asked no questions myself - I just took notes, and the criticisms and responses became one of my stories. The only question I did consider asking - do you all (the panel was Gillard, Conroy, Windsor, Quigley) - see the NBN as an important legacy of your time in office? - seemed too nice, too polite, almost a Dorothy Dixer. Given the negative tone of what had been posed previously, I thought it would probably be greeted with howls of derision. I did try it on Windsor as he left, but he was rushing to catch up with the rest of the gang and seemed wary of sounding immodest and claiming too much credit for himself.
I ate lunch in the car as I drove from PLC to TAFE. Arrived a little late, but fortunately the best bit - Graeme Wilton the building studies teacher giving a demo of how broadband could improve his ability to diagnose student problems on a work site - came toward the end. He was a supremely confident, droll performer, sitting there totally at ease between Gillard and Conroy, and I got a good pic of everyone looking vastly entertained by his double-hander with the student on the screen.
Next stop for the PM was TuneFM at UNE but I decided there was no point following her to a radio station just to stand outside, so I went back to the Express to deal with the photos and get something up on the web.
I did four stories for Friday's paper - the one about the part played by PLC students at the launch is here.
btw I completely forgot about photographing the Mayor of Glen Innes. It was always going to be difficult as there was a crowd of 700 or so there, and I don't know what he looks like.
No comments:
Post a Comment