I think we did okay. Most election nights, no matter which candidate you’re covering, ends up sitting around more than anything. I’ve always thought the best local election coverage is all about the returns and analysis. We had them both tonight.
I watched a good bit of the online coverage and Bob Mueller is the best local anchor for election night coverage that I’ve ever seen. The analysis was right on the mark, interesting and entertaining. I wish the Bryant headquarters at the Doubletree had ability to put both big screens on our streaming web coverage. There would have been a lot less talking among those in attendance and more attention to the returns.
From everything I heard, our coverage was complete and smooth with few if any technical problems. Good planning I say, no luck involved.
There were quite a few west Tennesseans supporting Bryant there tonight. I was surprised when no fewer than a half-dozen came up to me thinking I was still working for 3. I’ve been gone more than 2 years!
TSOTR was there. Good to see Hodo again and pass along hellos back to Memphis. Also saw Bud Nelson who I worked with in Memphis and who’s now at 5 here. I don’t think I’ve seen Bud since he left 7 years ago.
I didn’t see the competition but I think we did okay and don’t know of anything they got that we didn’t. We had the concession speech live and I don’t think anyone else took it. We had Bryant in his hotel room like everyone else and he stopped me when he came upstairs to greet his supporters to make sure we knew he was not conceeding early. We also interviewed him late for tomorrow morning’s news and he told us this was likely the end of his political career. I didn’t see anyone else get that.
It was a long day, but a good day. I love live tv and it was a nice change of pace from covering religion and ethics. I’ll be happy to be back on the beat tomorrow.
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