From the Trail
Jed's Blog is the home to the thoughts, occasional
opinions and news from the eyes and ears of Jed Layton. Layton is a Daily Utah Chronicle reporter on an internship with the Hinckley Institute of Politics and Shantou University of China. This internship is funded by the Li Ka Shing Foundation, and Layton is accompanied by four other University of Utah students and seven students from Shantou University. They will be attending both the Democratic and Republican National Convention and then touring the nation covering the election. Layton and other the interns will post daily-if not more often-on their journey giving their stories, their ideas and pictures.
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On Obama's primetime special
11/3/08 6:51 AM
Washington, D.C.—Sen. Barack Obama is emptying his war chest. With only a few days remaining in the presidential race, the Obama campaign spent a huge chunk of money—The New York Times reported around $3 million—on a 30-minute televised advertisement. It aired Wednesday night on networks such as Fox, NBC, CBS and a myriad of others. I forgot to watch the program; the World Series had my attention. But I was able to watch it online a few hours later. While I was not stunned by the production, I was impressed with a few things. * The Obama campaign tried to make the advertisement more like a documentary than like an advertisement. Nearly every major news network has called the 30-minute clip an infomercial, which I felt was a bit inaccurate. The advertisement...Campaign Blogging
10/22/08 5:58 AM
Washington, D.C.—Katelyn Polantz had a lot on her mind as she watched the final presidential debate Wednesday night from her news desk. She was doing double duty covering the debate as the editor-in-chief of her student newspaper and as a blogger for the New York Times. Polantz, a senior in English literature and communication at the University of Pittsburg, viewed the debate with other editors of The Pitt News, hoping the contest would shed light on which candidate the newspaper would endorse the next day. At the same time, Polantz was one of 20 student journalists blogging live for the Times about the debate. “This is what I do every day; cover the news and election and report on it for our readers. Doing this for the Times was just an extension of my job,”...Ignored by John McCain
10/16/08 6:30 PM
STRONGVILLE, OH—Stepping out of a gymnasium holding a John McCain rally Wednesday I had no idea I would soon run into the Republican presidential candidate. As I breathed in the open air I quickly realized the crowd of 3,000 still inside the building was not the only ones that wanted to see John McCain. A crowd of McCain supporters were congregating in a parking lot. My journalism instincts heightened and I decided to go investigate the commotion. A woman in the crowd told me that there were more than 1,000 people who were unable to get inside the gymnasium. But McCain and his running mate, Sarah Palin, were going to make a quick visit to those who waited. Armed with information and a local press pass, I skirted around the edges until I found a few men and women with video...Bailout – Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr.’s response
10/8/08 5:14 AM
Standing on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C., I was amused to see different congressmen get verbally assaulted by protestors Friday afternoon. Congress had just passed the new bailout bill to a sum of $850 billion and the CodePink protesters were not happy about it. Not that I liked seeing Congressmen who represent my and your vote get yelled at and defiled. But I enjoyed seeing how different House members reacted to the onslaught. Dressed in costumes and wielding signs blasting the bill protesters yelled, “You voted wrong today. Our vote will revenge us in a month.” “How did you vote Jesse? How did you vote? Guess how we will vote come November,” one man yelled to Illinois Democratic congressmen Jesse Jackson Jr. I think I liked Jackson’s reaction...Sneaking
10/8/08 5:12 AM
Friday afternoon on Capitol Hill was tense. Security guards were alert in way had not been days before. Dogs with high powered noses sniffed brief cases and camera bags. Armed officials talked with each other via mobile phones. Only congressmen, staffers and ID bearing journalists were allowed to go onto the rotunda steps of the U.S. Capitol. Everyone else, including me, was turned away. My plan was foiled. I wanted to be there after a vote that could be historic. I wanted to be the first to interview congressmen upset over a bill they saw as a huge step toward socialism. I wanted to hold my voice recorder up to congressmen filled with relief that the economy and country would be saved. There had to be a way I could get in. I ran across the street to the offices of...Archive
August 2008 (2 postings, read 0 times)September 2008 (4 postings, read 0 times)
October 2008 (4 postings, read 0 times)
November 2008 (1 postings, read 0 times)
