Election Day and Night at NBC4

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(Left to right) Megan Yoder, Chelsea Cirruzzo, Yan Shi – Election day with the Dean’s Interns!

By Dean’s Intern Yan Shi at NBC4

Through all of my internship experiences, the election has always been at the forefront. At the Newseum, I cut and edited videos from late night shows that often took inspiration from the debates during the nominations. At USA TODAY, I focused on Donald Trump and Clinton, the two nominees, when building interactives. Finally, at NBC4, I watched and updated numbers of votes rolling in the DMV area.

Everything came full circle on November 8th, in more ways than one.

Didn’t leave until 11:42pm! Worth it, though.

Didn’t leave until 11:42pm! Worth it, though.

The newsroom, as one would expect, is hectic but controlled—everyone is prepared to do their part in making sure that the coverage is accurate and precise. I prewrote articles for referendums that may or may not pass, which meant making sure that the barebones article had just enough information that any additional info, e.g. the breakdown of the votes, could be added with ease.

There were several of us at work this evening, some from the broadcast department and even a few from the sports department. The newsroom got pizza and salad, as many of us stayed until midnight to enter in results and watch for discrepancies between the automated numbers and numbers showing up in the AP wires and on county/state websites.

Needless to say, watching and listening to the intercom announce projections of the election and looking at Virginia’s, D.C.’s and Maryland’s elections conjured up a mixture of emotions: excitement, sadness, anger, etc.

As midnight drew closer and more voting polls were closing and counting up the ballots, our editorial manager on the digital team, Wendy Warren, told us that no matter what happens, that we remain professional.

It grounded me, to be honest, and I’m grateful that the team I work with care so much about their interns. They’ve helped me become a better journalist, one with a sharper eye for detail and one that challenged themselves to take on different roles and to never be afraid.