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Today’s lesson

Friday, Aug 23, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller

* From a good pal…

You never realize how irrelevant you are until you attend a national convention.

To wit…


You learn very early on that it’s all about the teevee show and the money.

Nothing - and I mean zero - else matters.

       

33 Comments
  1. - TJ - Friday, Aug 23, 24 @ 8:48 am:

    Hopefully none of them are NYTers, otherwise they will (in their heads) be justified to be mad at Harris for the next decade as a result while ignoring actual problems.


  2. - Beep booo - Friday, Aug 23, 24 @ 9:00 am:

    Well if there’s one thing I know about journalists they don’t hold personal grudges over perceived slights so this should be fine.

    (Begins hysterically laughing)


  3. - Bob Conant - Friday, Aug 23, 24 @ 9:19 am:

    Reminds me of the 2010 film The Other Guys.


  4. - Larry Bowa Jr. - Friday, Aug 23, 24 @ 9:20 am:

    What a loss, not having all these Credentialed Reporters inside the building to reframe and regurgitate to people what they were seeing on their TV sets. So much relevant information we’ll never know.


  5. - Amalia - Friday, Aug 23, 24 @ 9:26 am:

    bad treatment of reporters is some high level kind of stupid. today’s Peggy Noonan words talk about how Democrats have stolen patriotism and more from the Republicans. looks like they’ve stolen another tactic, treating the press badly. and I thought just us average people were treated badly when someone who does nothing gets a great seat and those who work hard are barely there.


  6. - Out of Style Book - Friday, Aug 23, 24 @ 9:33 am:

    Imagine for a moment if they’d been let in to the “overcapacity stadium.” We’d be reading angry reports about how crowded and unsafe the convention was and why did the fire marshall and Dem officials allow this to happen.

    Kick em when they’re up
    Kick em when they’re down


  7. - Southside Markie - Friday, Aug 23, 24 @ 9:40 am:

    Anybody with any experience knows that unless the last night is being held at a stadium, you’re going to get locked out if you come late. Happens at every DNC. Rookie mistake.


  8. - Red Ranger - Friday, Aug 23, 24 @ 9:46 am:

    Similar for local elected officials. Saw plenty of state legislators and Chicago Alders in the same 90+ min line as me to get into the UC last night.


  9. - Flyin'Elvis'-Utah Chapter - Friday, Aug 23, 24 @ 9:49 am:

    Nothing more sobering than finding out you’re just another local muckety-muck.


  10. - Drury's Missing Clock - Friday, Aug 23, 24 @ 9:54 am:

    It seems like Heather was late and didn’t possess the proper credentials but doesn’t want to take fault for that. Not sure what that has to do with the difference between print and broadcast.


  11. - Cheswick - Friday, Aug 23, 24 @ 9:55 am:

    Out of Style Book -
    Dirty Laundry. Excellent reference. Love it.


  12. - DM - Friday, Aug 23, 24 @ 10:01 am:

    Got my ear bent a lot this week by state legislators claiming they were “mistreated” and “disrespected” because of their seat assignment, or because they couldn’t land tickets for friends, or didn’t get invited to some corporate suite. Wanted to tell them to get over themselves but had to bite my tongue.

    Lots of folks who are used to being treated like big shots learned they were just another face in the crowd.


  13. - Christie - Friday, Aug 23, 24 @ 10:06 am:

    Let’s also hope that the the far left has learned that their “intersectionality” link between a woman’s right to choose and the destruction of Israel is a very, very bad idea that could imperil rather than help the election of pro-choice candidates at this critical point in time.


  14. - Cool Papa Bell - Friday, Aug 23, 24 @ 10:12 am:

    I think it was John King, last night he specifically referenced how crowded the floor was at 4:30 and how the veterans of past DNC’s knew to get here early so they weren’t locked out in standing in line forever.


  15. - Oklahoma - Friday, Aug 23, 24 @ 10:45 am:

    99 percent of life is showing up (on time)


  16. - Annonin' - Friday, Aug 23, 24 @ 10:55 am:

    Traditionally a rumor starts most convention afternoons that the fire marshal is closing the building at XX p.m. The time on the final day is usually earlier thus if you snooze you loose

    Conventions have been TV shows for decades and the hordes of cheering delegates are the extras, standins, props.

    Still can be some fun
    .


  17. - Someone you shoudl know - Friday, Aug 23, 24 @ 11:02 am:

    So True

    See, the hardest thing for me was leaving the life. I still love the life…We ran everything. We paid off cops. We paid off lawyers. We paid off judges. Everybody had their hands out. Everything was for the taking.

    And now it’s all over. And that’s the hardest part. Today, everything is different. There’s no action. I have to wait around like everyone else. Can’t even get decent food. Right after I got here I ordered some spaghetti with marinara sauce and I got egg noodles and ketchup. I’m an average nobody. I get to live the rest of my life like a schnook.


  18. - JS Mill - Friday, Aug 23, 24 @ 11:06 am:

    =A crowd of fully credentialed reporters outside=

    Wait, who is going to condescendingly explain the meaning of the words that I just heard with my own ears?

    =state legislators=

    I am trying to remember the point at which state legislators actually became big shots. Growing up, one of my classmates dad was a state rep and also a general practice lawyer and our little league coach. Seemed like it was just a side gig for him and I don’t remember anyone treating him like he was a big deal.

    In the end, we are all just cogs in a wheel. Which is as it should be.


  19. - Free Beer Tomorrow - Friday, Aug 23, 24 @ 11:08 am:

    The exaggerated sense of self-importance in that tweet is out done only by the lack of self-awareness displayed through actually posting it.


  20. - Out of Style Book - Friday, Aug 23, 24 @ 11:19 am:

    Usually you have to visit an unemployment office to see this large a crowd of fully credentialed reporters.

    If this crowd had started chanting, it would have been the second largest protest of the week.
    But then who would have covered it?


  21. - ChicagoBars - Friday, Aug 23, 24 @ 11:19 am:

    I think P.J. O’Rourke called it “Reporting from Mahogany Ridge” when he couldn’t get into a event and just headed to a bar to watch it on TV. That line always cracked me up.


  22. - @misterjayem - Friday, Aug 23, 24 @ 11:30 am:

    “The exaggerated sense of self-importance in that tweet…”

    Chicago has some journalist who are as good as Heather, but none that are better.

    – MrJM


  23. - Dirty Red - Friday, Aug 23, 24 @ 11:46 am:

    One of the better beat walking lessons I learned early on was to be in spaces no other journalists were in. Typically, those less populated spaces have better stories that have not been as prepared for mass consumption. You’re also less likely to be filing a story similar to something any of your other credentialed colleagues are filing.

    To each their own, but maybe a watch party with a few other high-profile politicos not in the arena would be a good spot to be.


  24. - Joe Bidenopolous - Friday, Aug 23, 24 @ 11:52 am:

    =Anybody with any experience knows that unless the last night is being held at a stadium, you’re going to get locked out if you come late. Happens at every DNC. Rookie mistake.=

    Southside Markie got it absolutely correct


  25. - low level - Friday, Aug 23, 24 @ 11:56 am:

    This is why I was very content to watch at home and avoid the hoopla. God bless you if that’s your thing but I’m just not there anymore.


  26. - Jurist - Friday, Aug 23, 24 @ 12:05 pm:

    @DirtyRed, amen. That is what separates great journalists from the others. It is also what gave us Jimmy Breslin’s grave digger story, the most perfect piece ever written, in my opinion.


  27. - 47th Ward - Friday, Aug 23, 24 @ 12:06 pm:

    Same here low level.


  28. - Pot calling kettle - Friday, Aug 23, 24 @ 12:29 pm:

    I wonder how many of the late arriving reporters had spent the day looking for a protest they still thought might turn into a riot.

    You place your bet and take your chances.


  29. - BigLou - Friday, Aug 23, 24 @ 12:36 pm:

    I got to witness a number of delegates of self importance from various states (who identified them selves as State Reps, Senators and Congresspeople) have to stand in the concourse during the roll call because no one was to be let in during the process. They tried the “do you know who I am” and the volunteers held there ground. It was very amusing and satisfying to watch this occur. They should have known they had to be on the floor before the roll call started.


  30. - Rich Miller - Friday, Aug 23, 24 @ 12:51 pm:

    ===They tried the “do you know who I am” and the volunteers held there ground===

    The volunteers were great.

    Isabel and I both had credentials, but we only had one floor pass for the press area. So, I gave that one to her. I figured we were there early enough that I could snag a seat.

    Oops.

    I ended up crashing a party and meeting some lovely people before I was politely asked for my ticket.

    Oops.

    Ran into some old pals and chatted with them for a while, but eventually bailed and went to Gene and Giorgetti’s for a steak and watched the convention from the bar, which was filled with delightful characters.

    Pretty sure I had a far more pleasant evening than Isabel.


  31. - TNR - Friday, Aug 23, 24 @ 12:57 pm:

    ==. If this crowd had started chanting, it would have been the second largest protest of the week.
    But then who would have covered it? ==

    Best comment of the week.


  32. - Norseman - Friday, Aug 23, 24 @ 1:18 pm:

    Rich for the win. He’s got none of that attitude of self-importance to go around and trash people for perceived slights.

    IL has a number of great reporters and too many not-so-great, but a convention with this year’s dynamics naturally results in undesirable slights. If I was King of the Dem convention, I would have tossed the Fox goofs and replaced them with Rich, Hanna, Amanda …


  33. - TJ - Friday, Aug 23, 24 @ 3:47 pm:

    Imagine being a state representative in an arena full of hundreds upon hundreds of current and former governors, senators, representatives, and assorted statewide elected officers, not to mention multiple former presidents, vice presidents, first and second ladies (and gentleman!), and major federal candidates and thinking you’re a big deal.

    People were cracking jokes online about the DNC having too many lieutenant governors getting speaking roles, nobody cares about John Q. State-Rep in that crowd.


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