Lights, Camera, Commentary
I don't know how many people saw me on CNN this weekend. I was on Saturday at around 6 pm to comment on the College Republicans' Caucasian achievement (whites only) scholarship. The merits of the argument for or against the scholarship are a whole other post., Being a whore for process, I would rather post about that.
It started Friday when a perky CNN producer (also a BU alum) called my house to ask if I could be on the show. My mom, who is much smarter than me, told her I wasn't there and took a message.
As a side note, I used to not understand why people would lie like that to avoid calls. After my time on the Deval Patrick Campaign, I get it.
Now the question was should I go on the show or not. The College Democrats' strategy (of which I was a principle supporter/architect) was to ignore the whole thing. However, once it hits drudge and CNN is calling, I believe that you have lost the position of power and now YOU look weaker by ignoring them. Feel free to dispute me there. Also, I got to be on the teevee.
So after consulting with the powers that be, I decided to go on. Now, both Joe and I were going to be on the same segment. Rather than put us in the same studio, CNN drove us to two different studios in order to have us both via satellite.
At the studio, I sat around for an hour in the green room waiting for the lone technician to be ready for me. Right before I was supposed to go on, the Israeli-Palestinian peace treaty was signed.
Seriously guys? Thousands of years of conflict and you couldn't wait 15 more minutes? Luckily, there wasn't much news besides the headline and I only got bumped back 20 minutes.
Actually doing the interview is a disorienting experience. I sat in a small black room hooked up with a mic and an ear piece through which I received directions and heard the interview questions. It was sort of like a sensory deprivation tank. I started to get dizzy at one point. I elected to not see the feed of the interview, which I think was the right call, because I didn't obsess over how I looked nor did I have a delay in my responses. One great thing was that the ear piece was hooked into the whole audio system. It put my segment in perspective when I heard the Israeli government spokeswoman was doing her mic check.
For those of you who saw the interview, it became readily apparent that my job was to get the hell out of the way. The anchor was not amused by the scholarship and spent most of the time tearing into Joe. Joe, I assure you, is not a huge racist. My job became agree with the anchorwoman, who made most of the points I would have. Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to but out my killer Michael Richards joke. Next time.
Then, like a eager young couple on prom night, it was over minutes after it had started. I collected my stuff from the green room, stole some candy from the dish, and got back in the town car they had hired for me.
The nagging question on my mind was how much the whole segment cost. Renting studio time for Joe and me, hiring a car and driver, satellite time, none of these things are cheap. I would guess it cost at least four figures. I guess it was worth it for my devastating insights like, "yes, you could call it a publicity stunt." Though I am not sure how.
Also, I got a piece of fan mail.
One final note, highlight of the whole experience was my driver. His name is Ben and he is an Algerian immigrant who came to the US as a world Judo champion and liked it so much he went to school and got a job here. He is the man and a huge Deval Patrick fan. He was going back home over the Christmas lull so that he could intimidate his little sister's fiancé and make sure he is a good guy. I wish him luck.
It started Friday when a perky CNN producer (also a BU alum) called my house to ask if I could be on the show. My mom, who is much smarter than me, told her I wasn't there and took a message.
As a side note, I used to not understand why people would lie like that to avoid calls. After my time on the Deval Patrick Campaign, I get it.
Now the question was should I go on the show or not. The College Democrats' strategy (of which I was a principle supporter/architect) was to ignore the whole thing. However, once it hits drudge and CNN is calling, I believe that you have lost the position of power and now YOU look weaker by ignoring them. Feel free to dispute me there. Also, I got to be on the teevee.
So after consulting with the powers that be, I decided to go on. Now, both Joe and I were going to be on the same segment. Rather than put us in the same studio, CNN drove us to two different studios in order to have us both via satellite.
At the studio, I sat around for an hour in the green room waiting for the lone technician to be ready for me. Right before I was supposed to go on, the Israeli-Palestinian peace treaty was signed.
Seriously guys? Thousands of years of conflict and you couldn't wait 15 more minutes? Luckily, there wasn't much news besides the headline and I only got bumped back 20 minutes.
Actually doing the interview is a disorienting experience. I sat in a small black room hooked up with a mic and an ear piece through which I received directions and heard the interview questions. It was sort of like a sensory deprivation tank. I started to get dizzy at one point. I elected to not see the feed of the interview, which I think was the right call, because I didn't obsess over how I looked nor did I have a delay in my responses. One great thing was that the ear piece was hooked into the whole audio system. It put my segment in perspective when I heard the Israeli government spokeswoman was doing her mic check.
For those of you who saw the interview, it became readily apparent that my job was to get the hell out of the way. The anchor was not amused by the scholarship and spent most of the time tearing into Joe. Joe, I assure you, is not a huge racist. My job became agree with the anchorwoman, who made most of the points I would have. Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to but out my killer Michael Richards joke. Next time.
Then, like a eager young couple on prom night, it was over minutes after it had started. I collected my stuff from the green room, stole some candy from the dish, and got back in the town car they had hired for me.
The nagging question on my mind was how much the whole segment cost. Renting studio time for Joe and me, hiring a car and driver, satellite time, none of these things are cheap. I would guess it cost at least four figures. I guess it was worth it for my devastating insights like, "yes, you could call it a publicity stunt." Though I am not sure how.
Also, I got a piece of fan mail.
One final note, highlight of the whole experience was my driver. His name is Ben and he is an Algerian immigrant who came to the US as a world Judo champion and liked it so much he went to school and got a job here. He is the man and a huge Deval Patrick fan. He was going back home over the Christmas lull so that he could intimidate his little sister's fiancé and make sure he is a good guy. I wish him luck.
Labels: CNN, Media, scholarship
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