Debate Video

The following video was shot by me and with the help of my classmate Ariel Gove. We had a hard time getting most of video recorded and due to time constraints there isn’t a lot of footage about the behind the scenes tour. Also, you will notice that the video is a little bit shaky, that is because we were not able to carry a tripod with us.

Debate Experience

This is a short video on my experience during the Debate that took place at UNLV and the two days before.

Not even a Thank You

The run up to the presidential debate left me wary of how volunteering for the actually event would turn out. I was right to be wary.

I arrived on campus at 2:00 p.m. to get my credentials. After walking to three different security checkpoints I was told to go back to the first one and they would let me in. I got my credentials and then was told to meet in the spin room in an hour. The spin room is basically a media room where candidates and their reps come after the debate to answer media’s questions. The room gets so crazy that our job is to literally hold signs over the reps heads so that the media can find them. I had the chance to hold a sign over Howard Dean. He was a pretty neat guy. Nice for the most part and his handlers are top notch. They even had him sign my sign as he was leaving.

He did an interview for CNN.com and if you watch it I am in the background.
http://www.cnn.com/video//video/politics/2007/11/15/long.howard.dean.interview.cnn?iref=videosearch

I also got to meet Bill Richardson, Dennis Kucinich and Joe Biden. All were very personable. It was an experience of a lifetime!

However CNN were complete jerks. I was stuck in that room for almost 8.5 hours and there was no food, no water and I never even got a thank you! What the heck!! Our “boss” Priscilla told us no one could leave until the cleanup was done and just kept ordering us to do random things. After an hour and a half of cleaning up and being the only student to still stick around I took off, still without even a thanks.

Thanks CNN. For performing exactly as I had expected you to. For showing us that you could care less about those who wanted to help.

The Debate is Over, but the Videos Keep Playing

It hasn’t taken long for video clips of the debate to hit the web.

One clip showing Bill Richardson supporters was confusing at first with signs reading “2013?”

A quick search showed that it’s a selling point for Richardson’s campaign to get the troops out of Iraq now rather than setting a timetable of 2013 as alluded to by other candidates.

The video search also turned up a quirky video anticipating the showdown between major contenders Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and John Edwards, complete with spaghetti western music:

Most of the video searches on Google, with various wording, turned up numerous Obama-centric clips.

The spin and mock-videos are sure to continue through the weekend.

The Last — and Most Stupid — Question of the Debate

(Editor’s note: This post was updated to include the text of the question and answer from the debate and the video.)

A group of UNLV journalism and senate students met up after the debate for drinks. Inevitably, talk turned to the separate experiences of the debate that each of the students had. Some of us were in the Cox Pavilion, some at the watch party and some were press reporting on the event.

The major opinion touted by all was that the final question of the debate was incredibly stupid.

And what made matters worse was that the girl who asked it prefaced it by saying that she was a UNLV student

One opinion was that CNN told her to ask that question as a cute wrap up to end the debate.

(This is the text of the question as posted this morning by The New York Times:)

MR. BLITZER: Thank you, Governor. Suzanne, go ahead.

MS. MALVEAUX: Maria, would you stand, please? Give us your full name.

Q Maria — (inaudible) — and I’m a UNLV student. And my question is for Senator Clinton. This is a fun question for you. Do you prefer diamonds or pearls? (Laughter.)

SEN. CLINTON: Now, I know I’m sometimes accused of not being able to make a choice. I want both. (Laughter.)

MS. MALVEAUX: Do we get to ask any of the other candidates or, I suppose, just Senator Clinton? (Cross talk.)

Q It’s the only thing shiny up there.

MS. MALVEAUX: Okay, thank you so much.

MR. BLITZER: All right, so on that note, diamonds and pearls, I want to thank all of the Democratic presidential candidates for joining us here this evening. Let’s give them a big round of applause. (Cheers, applause.)

And here is the video, courtesy of YouTube and TalkingPointsMemo:

Audio: UNLV Debate Coach Rates the Prez Debaters

Jake Thompson, the UNLV debate coach gives his opinion of the debate
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Reaction to no volume

A writer sitting next to me from The Washington Post said in reaction to no volume, “This wouldn’t have happened on Fox.” 

Scroll down to read my blog about why there was no volume.

No Volume

As Ben Rowley, various other press and I sit in the filing room, with numerous plasmas all around us, we can’t hear the debate.  There is no volume as we sit watching the candidates file on to the stage.  I guess we will have to judge the candidates’ answers by the audience reactions.

Alas the reason for the muteness.  A CNN employee just announced that we can’t hear the debate yet because this part of the debate is not being aired on CNN.  CNN has denied us volume for the time being.

Candidates Coming?

Watch party MC said ‘quite a few’ candidates will be stopping by.
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Something is a mis- with CNN

Misinformation? Misunderstood? Mismanaged?

Something is happening with CNN on the UNLV campus. Not only with the tour, but something more.

Students of UNLV were called upon last week to help with the debate efforts. Whether it was crowd control, holding signs, spreading the word, or just dealing with the parking nightmare. Up to this point, however, CNN has been less than thankful for our help.

Yesterday afternoon an e-mail went out announcing a behind-the-scenes tour of the debate to take place for Greenspun Journalism students at 5 p.m. After showing up at 4:45, I walked over to the designated meeting spot with Dr. Ardyth Sohn, director of the Greenspun school.

No one was there to greet us at 5 . A man from CNN security was nice enough to let us up to the debate hall so that we could get some answers about where we should be. After speaking with a very kind producer in the hall itself, we went back downstairs and after wandering around a little more we finally got some answers. It was 5:20 and we were told our guide would be with us in just a few minutes.

At about 5:30 our two guides came out. They introduced themselves as CNN publicists and said it was their pleasure to show us some of the key media areas of the debate.

Here is where the mis- really starts.

We quickly walked across the breezeway to the Thomas & Mack boardroom, which will be the “spin room” on Thursday for the debate. We were told we couldn’t go in because they are setting up. Understandable.

Next we walk to the front of the Cox Pavilion area and told that this is where “standups” will be and here is where the general public will be entering. General enough.

Next we were led around the back of the building, near a small set of steel doors and we’re told that this is were the press filling room will be, but we cannot go in there either because there are rehearsals going on. What rehearsals are in a press filling room?

And that ended the tour.

I know we were all disappointed, and maybe it wasn’t their fault that we couldn’t see the debate hall (even though CNN security let me up earlier) but if that is all you could show us why bring us there in the first place?

The real story came later that evening. As a volunteer, I was required to attend one of two training sessions for the debate. The first was held last night at 9 p.m.

At 8:55 the room on the second floor of UNLV’s student union was opened and I and about 40 others came in and sat down.

Two women from UNLV’s public affairs department introduced themselves and told us that the CNN rep would be there soon. While we were waiting, they handed out UNLV “Presidential Debate” logo polos for us. We later found out that most of us cannot even wear the shirts to the event because of they are white, and white conflicts with CNN’s rules on volunteer attire.

After 45 minutes, the CNN rep had still not shown up, and the UNLV staffers told us they would not make us wait any longer and let us go.

This was a required meeting for students to attend. How disappointing that CNN did not show up to tell us how to help them! We are not all students that have an hour of our time to throw away. Some called in to work, some had to arrange babysitters, and some blew off studying for our impending finals to be here and to help. We are thanked for this by having two separate meetings turn out to be complete wastes of our time.

Students may or may not show up to the polls this year, I think they will, but to take such a highly involved group of students and hang them out to dry is really a shame.

I cannot blame CNN as a whole, but the individuals we have dealt with have either had their hands tied, turned us down, turned us away or not kept the promises they made.

So I leave it to you.

Misunderstood? Mismanaged? Misinformed?

Or simply misguided in thinking that we as UNLV students don’t matter?

CNN Tells UNLV Journalism School C-NO

By Aaron Murphy

When UNLV’s journalism students were told they were going to be allowed to tour CNN’s setup for the presidential debates being held on our campus, there were a lot of very high hopes.

Unfortunately most of those hopes were dashed, as the students were treated to a tour of a hallway, a dark staircase and a closed door. This closed door would prove more than symbolic for the UNLV Greenspun School of Journalism students.

When asked for an explanation for the “brief” nature of the tour by members of the faculty, Bridget Leininger, a spokesperson for CNN, said, “We are very busy getting ready for the debate. Everyone upstairs was trying to get us to get people out.”

The “upstairs” she was referring to is where all of the action would have been taking place, with anchors and reporters preparing to go on air and collecting information for their stories.

(These are photos taken of what was going on upstairs in the Thomas & Mack Center– one of many areas CNN declared off-limits to UNLV journalism students. Downstairs, a dozen or so journalism students and faculty were being stonewalled.)

Making room for the little guy has always been a problem, both in politics and in the media, and Tuesday night was a perfect example of the flaws in these systems. While one of us students may potentially be employed by this company, we were not considered of enough importance to even get a glimpse of what may very well be our future.

As is so often the case with governments, bureaucracies, or corporations, it would seem that those who have the least access and get the least respect, are the same individuals with the most drive, passion and skill for the work.

One can only hope that at some point the individuals who are making the decisions on access will be the same people with the ability and desire to identify those who truly are, and will be able to reward them for their enthusiasm.

These individuals will be the students.

These individuals will be us.