17.1.09

American Paparazzi

The 2 to 5 million visitors predicted for the Inauguration ceremony haven't yet arrived, but it's a different story for journalists. They're here, and they're working hard.

The city is bracing for an overflow of visitors on Tuesday, with a significant portion of those bodies being out-of-town journalists, a la moi. Politico reported in December that four times more journalists than in past inaugurations requested press credentials for the Swearing-in ceremony. 

That's a lot of reporting.

---

We hopped on a red-line Metro tonight, fresh from our interview with the pedicab drivers. A lone photographer stood next to us, carrying three times the equipment Heater had around his neck.  

Two camera bodies, lens, a backpack and a Salt Lake City 2002 Olympics hat identified this guy as a journalist, so we asked to confirm.

He was, he said, representing the Rocky Mountain News out of Denver. 

"I'm on Obama watch," he said. He seemed a little frazzled and preoccupied. (The president-elect, coming into  D.C. from the Whistle Stop tour this evening had just made it into town. )

"We thought he'd pop out, something" -- the photographer waved, like he was straining his neck to look out of a car window -- "but nothing."

After one stop, the photographer left the subway and was back on the hunt.

- Katelyn Polantz

No comments:

Post a Comment