On election night October 4th, 2011, I went to The Winnipeg Sun. I was told to arrive at The Winnipeg Sun for 5:00pm. I arrived a bit early because I wasn’t too sure how to get there. When I arrived in the parking lot I got a bit confused about where to park but I finally figured it out.
I entered the doors and had to sign in. I was greeted by the receptionist who was very nice and taken up a large staircase. I had never been inside the Winnipeg Sun building before so this was quite exciting for me.
I was then led to a room where other students were waiting patiently. We all had to sign in and were given two sheets that had the stories that were being assigned that night. Originally, I had hoped to go to the Liberal Party headquarters and speak to Kevin Freedman and Jon Gerrard.
However, we were not given the option to pitch any ideas. We were assigned where we had to go. I was a bit nervous at this point because I just wasn’t sure what the evening would hold.
I ended up getting the story of Susan Auch and Jim Rondeau running for the Assiniboia seat. Auch was running for the PC’s and Rondeau, for the NDP’s. I was also assigned a reporter and her name was Jillian Austin.
While I was at The Winnipeg Sun office, I was told to keep my story focused on Susan Auch. Austin and I went over to see her co-worker who she called “Mr. Opinion” and we had a brief little chat about who he thought was going to win. If I am not mistaken he did think that Auch would win because of her Olympic background and name recognition. He felt that Rondeau was a bit boring to compete with that. So after we discussed this, I was told to get as close to Susan Auch as I could even if she won or lost. They both agreed there was more of a story with Auch even though Rondeau won this seat three times previously.
After this, I had to get on the internet and telephone to find out where candidates were going to be that night. The computer I had was so slow. It took me forever to find this information. This was really frustrating. I wasn’t expecting this from The Winnipeg Sun. At first, I thought it was something I was doing wrong with the computer but when I asked my contact, she said that she often heard the person sitting at that computer complaining about how slow the computer is.
When I was on the phone to the campaign headquarters, it felt so strange to say I was calling from the Winnipeg Sun. That was so neat to experience. At first, it felt like I was a fraud you know? Like I wasn’t actually working for the Sun. I had to say to myself, it is ok, and you can say this for one night anyway so enjoy it! So I did!
I made sure to introduce myself to all of the Campaign Managers and took down their phone numbers. I am not very familiar with the Assiniboia area and I knew that by the time I would head out there, it would be dark outside. I certainly didn’t want to get lost tonight. I found people much more receptive when I would say I am calling from The Winnipeg Sun rather than I am a student from Red River College…
Well, I am a nervous driver too so driving from all over the city wasn’t something I was going to take lithely. I made sure to fill up on gas before I left thankfully. It was my last little bit of money until payday but I spent it wisely. I had to go from one end of the city to another. So, off in my Malibu I went.
I was trucking along when I arrived to the area of town I was supposed to get to, it was dark outside. I could barely find the addresses. Luckily, I found Susan Auch’s headquarters. I was the first one there besides the Manitoba Pork lady who was grilling up the pork patties for the evening. I was able to confirm with her that I was at the right location and could breathe a sigh of relief.
Since I was the first one there I was able to chat with a few people including Auch’s Office Manager. What I found so inspiring about Auch’s team was how dedicated they were to her. They really believed in her and would stand behind her without question. I remember one of them saying:
“You don’t become and Olympic athlete without working hard.”
I just thought that was so cool and so true. The more I talked to people, the more I realized how much they supported Susan and the PC party as a whole. It was amazing to me to see people so passionate about politics and so involved in the political process. It was contagious. It made me feel excited to be there and to be part of something greater than ourselves. When Susan Auch finally arrived, she came to tell her supporters bad news. The room was quiet except for Auch’s deep breath and her volunteers that were crying in the background. Here is what Susan Auch said:
“I am pissed!”
That was her first reaction to her loss. I couldn’t believe it. It was so heartfelt but not very articulate.
I started frantically writing this down on my pad. “We tried, she said. “ The last six months, we did everything we could. Thank you to all volunteers, Thank you to everyone.”
Auch went on to comment on the NDP’s strong foot-hold. “They ran super- hard and not entirely sportsman-like either,” she said. Auch said she “is here to stay” and is committed to Manitoba.
“We need change in the province badly. We need to be vocal continually. We can do it,” she said.
The deadline to get my quotes in to my reporter was by 10:00pm. I was worried that I was too late in calling my quotes in because I didn’t get on the phone until about 9:55pm. My reporter was really nice when I called it in and she said that I did a great job at getting some good quotes.
When I checked the paper on page six the next day, there were my quotes and my name in bold saying with files from Anrea Zaslov. I just thought this was so much fun and an awesome experience. I told the Sun that I would be happy to volunteer for them in the future. It was a great experience and a super assignment. I had a blast.
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