Covering Michigan State of the State address remains an enjoyable occasion

  We have been to several State of the State addresses in recent years. It’s an enjoyable occasion as well as a nice break from our normal (at times mundane) routine of providing a newspaper for the local audience.

    An aura of excitement permeates the Michigan Capitol building on this evening, much of it coming from the invited guests who have been allowed access to this center of political and governmental power. Reporters aren’t supposed to cheer in the press box, so I disguise any hint that the event is anything other than journalistic business as usual.

   The guests will either sit next to the legislator who invited them, or they have been given a pass to the visitor’s gallery that looks down upon the House chamber. The House convenes at six. By the time the governor starts the address an hour later, the chamber floor is packed with the representatives and senators, the governor’s cabinet, the attorney general and secretary of state, the judges from the Court of Appeals, the Supreme Court justices, the governor’s family, and these special visitors.

    Joining the crowd is a handful of reporters who’ve been given floor passes. The stipulation is that they are to stay along the west wall. Such close proximity might seem like a plum assignment, but appearances can (as they say) be deceiving. The problem is that the reporter or photographer has to arrive by 5:30 p.m. and remain. The first ones in the door commandeer the window ledges, allowing them a place to sit. The rest have about two-and-a-half hours of standing time, with only the wall to lean on.

     One year I received a floor pass and thought I had the world by the tail. After over an hour of being on my feet, I was mentally begging for the event to be over. I was rescued though. A representative (Brandon Dillon to be precise, who now heads the Michigan Democratic Party), didn’t have a guest that evening and asked if I wanted to use the empty chair.

   “I don’t know if we’re supposed to,” I said, fearful that I might run afoul with the security forces stationed around the floor if I deviated from the rules.

   “I won’t tell if you don’t,” he joked.   I took the seat and immensely enjoyed the remainder of the evening.

   Otherwise, the press is told to report to the House Appropriations Room, located just outside the visitor’s gallery, and remain there until after the speech is over. The legislators, we’re told, will come to us for interviews. And show up they do, like moths attracted to a light on a dark night.

    Having had that taste of sitting on the floor, at the very epicenter of this “big news” event, I’m now more than happy to witness the speech in our assigned room with the rest of the media. It is not an exclusive access. Also present are lower-level state officials who have been allowed into the Capitol but not onto the House floor and staff members from both the governor’s office and the House Republican office. Their job is to supply the media with the prepared press packet, detailing the main highlights of the governor’s address.

   As owner of the Fowlerville News & Views, a weekly newspaper serving the area of western Livingston County and a bit of eastern Ingham County, I’m well aware of being at the bottom of the media ladder in this headquarters. On the top rungs are the television crews who give reports for the early evening and late night newscasts. Also above me are the radio reporters with microphones attached to recorders, the beat reporters for the large dailies and their corporate news services, and the journalists with the capital-based news services--MIRS and Gongwer.

    With newspapers, news magazines, television, and radio having internet sites, and with many of the journalists working for them also providing content for blogs, twitter, and Face book, there are almost instantaneous reports sent forth from this room. Nearly all of the reporters who weren’t involved in TV or radio, sat in front of their laptops, posting their news reports and comments or else watching the address on their computer screens. For the rest of us who did not bring our laptops, the proceeding can be observed on a large screen that dominates the south wall.

    Once Gov. Rick Snyder began his talk, much of it focused on the Flint Water Crisis, I wrote my notes on a yellow legal pad. The next day I used them, along with the news release provided by the governor’s office, to fashion a front-page story for the upcoming week’s edition. After the speech, the two area legislators who represent our coverage area of Livingston County—State Senator Joe Hune and State Representative Hank Vaupel—came to the room. They found me in the back, away from the crowded front part where the TV and radio reporters were interviewing other legislators. I took separate pictures of them, which I planned to include on the front page, and asked for their reactions, again using the tried and true method of note taking with a pen and paper. Their comments were to be the main crux of an accompanying news story inside the paper, entitled (boy am I creative) “Area legislators offer reaction to Gov. Snyder’s State of the State.”

     One year I tried using a digital recorder that I had just purchased, thinking this would made is easier for me to take note. Unfortunately, I accidently erased part of the comments given by then representative Cindy Denby when I was doing the transcript the following morning. So I had to call and re-do the interview, using pen and paper to jot down her comments. The recorder is in the desk drawer, unused since that long-ago morning.

   In the world of social media, I realize that dinosaur is probably an appropriate description for a weekly newspaper and for my slower, more old-fashioned way of producing a news story.  

    I can understand the lure and appetite for instantaneous news, reported moments after it happens, and the back and forth exchanges. Truth be told, I, too, like the convenience of headline news, and consuming those tiny morsels of information that tell what happened along with when and where and to who.

     But if a story interests me or the issue is compelling, I also want to know the why and how of it along with the different interpretations, the background, and the possible ramifications. Since I like that depth, overview, and opinion, I believe (as a journalist) that  there are others who share a similar interest, and, thus, there is still an audience—at least for awhile longer or until my generation dies off—for the longer, more detailed, more nuanced news article or the well-researched analysis or commentary.  

   The reality is that I could watch the State of the State address in the comfort of my living room and go online to get the governor’s news release. I could call up my area legislators the next day to get their reaction. If I so desired, I could follow the blogs and tweets on a smart phone or lap top from those reporters in the media room, watch the 11 o’clock news for the follow-up TV reports, and read the opinions of the columnists in the morning paper or listen to radio and television talk show hosts offer their take of the governor’s address.

    But I enjoy the festive atmosphere prior to the speech and observing the people milling about in the corridors, deep in conversations with each other. A highlight is joining them in line at the buffet table, eating the finger food, all of us dressed in our Sunday best. I likewise enjoy being in the media room, watching how the other journalists go about their business, well aware that most of them are working on a more-immediate deadline than I.

   The architectural beauty of the Capital, inside and out, is inspiring as is the tradition and continuity on display with the Civil War flags, the other historical memorabilia, and the portraits of all the past governors that hang on the walls of the rotunda. I have yet to tire of the ‘pomp and circumstance’ that the legislature employs at the start of this event, a ritual that’s both solemn and celebratory of our system of representative self-government.

    As citizens, we may not personally agree with the politics and priorities of the particular governor making the State of the State address or the party in control of the legislature, nevertheless we should embrace the concept that what happens in Lansing as well as with our various units of local government impacts our lives. For this reason, we should pay attention and, when possible, become more engaged.

   Witnessing this special occasion, up close and personal, taking in all of the sights and sounds, soaking in the excitement, has been and remains a fascinating experience. The real world, in this case, still trumps the virtual one. While I may be at the bottom of the ladder compared to the others in the media room, a relic with my pen and legal pad, even so I’m still a reporter, covering the news, and in this instance, offering a few thoughts and observations.