Journalism: the fine art of hanging around

By Olivia Arbogast

So I think that I can finally say that I am an official journalist for two reasons:

1. I have mastered the fine art of “hanging around” that some call journalism
2. I know what it means to finally #partylikeajournalist

Now let me tell you what I mean by these. These past 48 hours have been crazy, and the next 48 are going to be just as hectic for me.

It all started on Saturday morning, when I travelled close to the Olympic Village to the Media Press Centre (yes, Centre is spelled correctly). I went with two fellow Scripps journalists, and we were to cover the BMX press conference. Now I am not a huge fan of the sport, not because I don’t like it – it just has never really caught my eye. But after a little research the night before (at like 3 a.m.), I found out a lot about the sport, and I might actually start watching it – maybe.

The USA BMX team press conference. Photo by me. 

Well, we went to the press conference, got out stories, and we were supposed to be on our merry ways. Well, we decided to stay around for a little while and see what was up around the center. I mean, there were news stations from literally ALL OVER THE WORLD. So we decided to hang around a little bit – our passes were good for all day.

We found out when we went to the United States Olympic Committee that there was another press conference less than an hour after the one we had just been to, and we were allowed to go to it. It was with recent gold medal winner Jamie Gray. She had just set a world record in shooting, and she was coming in to speak to the press.

Well, we were about one of only four media outlets that showed up, but it worked out in our favor because we were allowed to hold her gold medal. I must say – it is heavier than it looks.

This was at the Michael Phelps press conference.
Photo also by me.

We decided to master the fine art of hanging around even further, and we went back to the USOC, where we found out that there was going to be a press conference later that night with Michael Phelps, Serena Williams and Missy Franklin. Well – we had to stay now. I was the only one in a dilemma though because I had play tickets for the night. I was not expecting this opportunity to come knock on our door.

So after calling long distance to home in a panic at 6:30 p.m. (only 30 minutes until I was supposed to meet my friends to get the tickets, and I was easily 45 minutes across town), getting locked out of the media center, having no way back in, having to call USOC via Skype and finally getting back in with the nice help of a security guard, I was ready to go to the press conference. (And I did not even attempt to leave the premise once after that).

Well, Serena Williams never showed up, but Michael Phelps and Missy Franklin did, and man was it a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

So the fine art of hanging around worked out in my favor … except for the three hours of sleep I got last night before I had to get up this morning to go to the USA Tae Kwon Do Olympic team practice. It was pretty cool … but what was even cooler was the fact that Holly and I accidentally ran into an Olympic silver medalist in archery from Ohio, and we got to interview him. Or the fact that I got interviews with some of the best basketball players in the world.

So now, I will party like a journalist. I have three more articles to write, and two more events to cover on Tuesday. I will get it all done – the question is just, how late will I be going to bed tonight? We shall see …