“5, 4, 3, 2, 1.”
In Studio West in the Boston University College of Communication, students assumed their respective positions on the anchor desk, behind the camera, in front of the teleprompter and at the control board.
BU student journalists across varying mediums have poured hours of dedication into creating comprehensive, impartial news coverage for campus organizations of the 2024 Presidential Election on Nov. 5.
Chinanu Okoli is co-programming director for WTBU, BU’s student-run radio station, and campus editor for WTBU News.
Okoli, a senior, said the importance of this election stems from the fact that it is a presidential election but also many students’ first time voting.
“It’s a special election,” Okoli said. “It definitely feels like it has more of an impact, more ramifications, both on the general public but also on us journalists and as people covering this.”
Okoli said WTBU prepared for an “election-heavy” broadcast after its regular programming, with man-on-the-street and polling place interviews.
“We’re doing packages, but our show is fully live,” Okoli said. “We’re really giving updates right at the hour, as soon as they come in.”
With “a lot of willpower and a lot of tenacity,” Okoli said the passion of the WTBU staff is evident in their work, even with a smaller news staff than other outlets.
WTBU’s election coverage is student driven and produced, and the group enjoys “taking initiative” Okoli said.
“There’s so much pride in being able to do something for yourself and being able to pitch things yourself and being able to have a saying with what the coverage looks like,” Okoli said. “To have that opportunity, and to also get through with real stories, real people and to see the impact that it has.”
BU offers a variety of organizations, like WTBU, for student journalists to channel their learning into real-world experience.
Among them is BUTV, a student-run television station.
BUTV hosts a show during major elections specially dedicated to coverage of that election, including the upcoming presidential election, said Sydney Topf, a co-executive producer for the election show, “United We Vote.”
Topf, a senior, said one of the most rewarding parts of participating in the show is seeing the student team’s dedication to put on the best show possible.
“It’s literally all students,” Topf said. “Students act as reporters, anchors, crew members, studio members, producers.”
Topf said a group of students spent a weekend in New Hampshire covering Boston residents canvassing from door to door.
“It’s unbelievable when we have meetings and they come and show us everything that they’ve created,” Topf said. “All of these students are jumping into it. It’s been really inspiring and fun to see everyone care that much.”
Senior Sophia Falbo, co-executive producer of “United We Vote” and editor in chief of Boston University New Service, an online multimedia publication at BU, said her time spent planning and creating election coverage for both organizations has been “incredible.”
“Now it’s the final countdown,” Falbo said. “We’re just waiting until Tuesday for everything to really start, and then Wednesday, when our election show airs.”
Falbo said BUNS sent a team of student journalists to Washington, D.C., and polling locations across Boston to report.
With an election as polarizing as this year’s, student journalists have faced challenges, both physically and emotionally.
Topf said she has dedicated 20-30 hours each week to the election show since planning began in May.
Additionally, Falbo said the uncertainty of the election’s outcome is a challenge for students working on the show. Original writeups of the election show had Joe Biden as the Democratic candidate.
“We have an entire rundown down, but then you don’t know what can actually happen on Nov. 5 or the day after,” Falbo said. “If there’s going to be protests or riots, or if we’re even going to know who’s winning by the time the show airs.”
To combat this, Falbo said the team tried to be flexible and created “phantom slugs” if aspects of the rundown need to be amended.
Despite these difficulties, covering the election is a way for students to understand what it means to be a journalist.
“I think that the biggest thing that we can do is just work as journalists. Do the work and do the things that we know how to do,” Okoli said.
Topf said covering the election “solidified” her desire to pursue political journalism after graduation.
“Journalism is a glimpse of what’s happening in history,” Topf said. “As reporters, we get to capture that, which is so unbelievable.”
Chinanu Okoli is a current writer for The Daily Free Press. Sydney Topf was a campus co-editor for fall 2023.
