Western journalism students get a taste of election night reporting
Western JOUR 497 students sit together after discussing their post-election coverage in Bellingham, Wash., on Nov. 19, 2024. From left, Thalia Coulter, Jenna Millikan, Sophie Bechkowiak, Sophie Cadran and Oren Roberts. (Not pictured Miles Vander Vennet.) // Photo by Peggy Watt
Journalism 497 provides students with firsthand ins and outs of covering campaigns
Story by Jenna Millikan
Where were you during the 2024 election?
For students of Journalism 497 class, the answer is here, there and everywhere.
Six Western students spent election night hopping to various watch parties to interview attendees about their election fears, hopes and expectations.
Students interviewed everyone from Bellingham City Council Member Michael Lilliquist at The Wild Buffalo to members of Whatcom County Republicans in Lynden. Two students teamed up to visit watch parties at local bars, while others attended watch parties in the lavish halls of the Hotel Leo and the rowdy pizza party in Fraser Hall on campus.
Sophie Cadran, who traveled to Lynden with two other students and journalism professor Peggy Watt, said it was a positive experience she would do again.
“I definitely appreciated going to different parties within Whatcom County to get more of a holistic understanding of what the county looks like,” Cadran said. “Everyone was just really respectful to us overall.”
Watt’s favorite part of the night was watching students interact with voters in Lynden despite their previous nerves, she said.
“They were engaged in good conversations and having a professional experience,” Watt said.
Watt started JOUR 497 in 2008 because she missed the comradery of election reporting in a newsroom. This class allows students to get a taste of what election nights are like for professional reporters. They will write follow-up stories based on the most important issues for voters they gathered during election reporting.
Covering Campaigns is offered every four years during the election season and gives students experience reporting on presidential campaigns. Their composite election story, “Cheers for some results, boos for others as vote counts come in,” was published in the Salish Current.
“I want [them] to come away with a genuine understanding of what the experience is like and recognition that it’s not gonna be the same any two times,” Watt said. “[They] got a taste of it but in a newsroom, it’s more intense.”
Watt said the class has changed every year since. Earlier classes focused on historical perspectives and TV ads. Since 2020, the class has spent more time looking at how the online media landscape shapes the election.
In preparation for election night, students attended and wrote stories about vice president debate watch parties, were visited by Secretary of State Steve Hobbs and visited the Whatcom County Auditor’s Office to see how ballots get counted.
The Salish Current has published other stories written for the class, including articles related to fleeing to Canada, Washington reproductive services, Gen Z voters and other issues important to voters.
