It's 11:30 at night.
I'm on the bus as it rattles its way through the Lincoln Tunnel, wondering why I'm always drawn to rallies and protests. Yes, they're inherently newsworthy. Something is happening right here, right now, you're in the thick of it and you're the first person to know. Yes, it's our constitutional right. The liberty to think, then to talk, to spread these ideas, to assemble, and in doing so enact change.
But the rally and the protest happen for a more fundamental reason: passion. People feel strongly about the cause, something that makes it worth fighting for. It's passion that makes the cold bearable. That compels people to march down streets. Passion ignores rain and fatigue, the summertime heat and the stares of strangers.
Covering rallies is difficult. Sometimes you see something remarkable. Other times nothing happens. And you're always on your feet, one eye peeled for something newsworthy.
But it's worth it because of the result. Passion looks beautiful on camera and in print because it's real, raw emotion. Passion is what makes us human. You're out there because you want to capture that passion. You're out there because you know they want their voices to be heard. Is that not what we're here for, what journalism is all about?
