opinion | If a tree falls in a forest...

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?

news | Black Lives Matter Rally in Washington Square Park

news | Activists rally for nuclear-free statewide clean energy plan

A rally held after a public hearing of the renewable energy proposal in lower Manhattan. Credit: Author

Some want nuclear power gone with the wind.

NEW YORK – Local environmental groups met at the corner of Church and Vesey streets on Tuesday to call for a clearer vision of New York State’s renewable energy proposal. The rally, held shortly after a public hearing, attracted about fifty people including citizen activists and members of environmental groups.

news | Apple store rallies reveal wider rights issue

A reporter interviews an activist outside the Apple Store on Fifth Avenue. Credit: Author

NEW YORK—A small knot of about 20 people stood outside the flagship Apple Store on Fifth Avenue early Tuesday evening to show solidarity with Apple as it continues to fight a government request to unlock an iPhone used by Syed Rizwan Farook, the shooter in the San Bernardino attacks. Although the debate centers around Apple’s refusal to bypass or disable security features in the shooter’s smartphone, activists at the rally revealed a deeper, ideological debate about privacy, security, and government overreach in the digital age.