News never stops

I think now is a good time to reflect on the amazing news stories I have covered in the past month and a half...

2nd EU Summit: This was the second summit I have worked at since being here. This one was two days instead of one and definitely a much bigger deal. Of course all of the European heads of government were there, from French PM Nikolas Sarkozy to English PM Gordon Brown. The day started out with me and the free-lance camerman Heve. I walked in the office and my boss told me Herve and I had a couple of preview assignments before the Summit. First was the Robin Hood Story. Of course, I had no idea what she meant but I soon found out. We went to Place Luxembourg, which is an area full of bars and restaurants near the EU which is always full of officials and bureacrats. On the middle of the grassy square stood a group of actors literally playing tug of war dressed as bankers and peasants. It was a literal "Robin Hood" demonstration in protest of the delayed EU implementation of a business tax that would give money to poverty programs. It was quite hilarious to say the least.

The summit went really well my reporting skills and confidence had improved vastly. I doorstepped all of the major arrivals and this time I had no problem screaming out questions to Nikolas Sarkozy...even though I knew he wouldn't answer. Here's a video I found of myself doorstepping. Unfortunately for me, Papandreou was on the WRONG side!

Greek PM Papandreou: Eurozone, not Greece, needs help
Uploaded by EUXTV. - Up-to-the minute news videos.

Overall the summit was great experience. I love politics and international affairs. I love seeing journalists from China to Egypt all in the same room. But most importantly, I love picking up the Financial Times, WSJ or NYT and reading about events that I helped cover for Reuters!


Bombspotting Campaign The Saturday before Spring Break I volunteered to cover a story about a nuclear weapons protest just outside of Brussels. According to anti-nuclear weapons activists, the United States and other countries have nuclear weapons in a military base in Belgium. That specific Saturday was a world-wide protest day so obviously Reuters covered it. I saw some file video of previous protests and it looked like your average demo, lots of police/soldiers arresting mean with beards and dreadlocks.

So the cameraman and I get there and decide we have to march with the protestors as they try and infiltrate this military base. I walked approximately 6 km through forest and farms, in the pouring rain. Of course as soon as we get there the protesters are arrested on the spot. We even saw some reporters get arrested for videotaping it! I was in fear for my safety and did not want to spend my Spring Break in a Belgian jail cell.

Of course I complained to myself the whole march but you know what? It makes me a better reporter. What 21 year old can say to a future employer that they have risked their safety marching through a Belgian forest with 25 marijuana smoking anti-nuclear weapon activists? Talk about some great B-roll.

The story got 16 hits and even was picked up by media in IRAN. Ironic? I think so. All in all a good story.


Volcanic Ash: This is probably the biggest story I've covered here. And will probably be the biggest story I cover at least untill I graduate. So we're sitting at the office and all of the sudden we hear this nonsense about a volcano in Iceland spewing ash all over Europe. I head out with the camera man to go to the Brussels airport where every flight is about to be cancelled. We do some vox pops (quick interviews with people in the airport) and even got to go up in the old control tower! That was literally terrifying. I am not a fan of heights.

Throughout that week I interviewed a representative from the Association of European Airlines about 3 times. The amount of money lost thanks to the volcano is astronomical. Thank God it's over so I don't have to worry about being stuck over here, or taking a train to Spain and flying home!