Kathryn Carlisle-Pentagon Press Briefing
Today we were fortunate enough to witness a Pentagon press briefing. It was very early in the morning, but I was fascinated by what the Colonel in Iraq had to say. He had a very positive report from his area in Ramadi in Anbar Province, which is 70 miles west of Baghdad. My first reaction when he first came on screen was how tired he looked. I feel for they guys over there...
Anyway, to the journalism part...We got to speak with a producer from NBC, a photo journalist from CNN and a reporter from The Voice of America. They had great tips on the definition of news. They each explained that news is determined by the journalist. That specific press briefing wasn't really a stand-alone story, but sound bites may be used in the next few weeks.
The correspondent from The Voice of America and adjunct professor at the Medill school of Journalism, Alan W. Pessin, gave us tips on being young journalists. He emphasized the need to "learn how to write".
After our VIP access to the briefing, two Privates, one Army, one Air Force, gave us the typical tour. We were fortunate enough to see the memorial to the victims of 9/11. I did not know the Defense of Freedom Metal was created because of September 11th. We learned that the windows in the Pentagon are bullet-proof, bomb-proof, picture-proof,...basically, you name it-it can't get in. Each pane cost $20,000, but that cost was paid off in 7 years by the energy cost that was diminished. The windows that were hit in the attack on 9/11 were put right back in during reconstruction, that's how strong these windows are! Ironically, the area of the Pentagon that was hit, was the strongest in the building. The area was under construction, and during the process they had added steel reinforcements. (The building lacked this because it was constructed during WWII so, all the steel was going to the war effort.)
All in all it was a very intriguing trip.
Anyway, to the journalism part...We got to speak with a producer from NBC, a photo journalist from CNN and a reporter from The Voice of America. They had great tips on the definition of news. They each explained that news is determined by the journalist. That specific press briefing wasn't really a stand-alone story, but sound bites may be used in the next few weeks.
The correspondent from The Voice of America and adjunct professor at the Medill school of Journalism, Alan W. Pessin, gave us tips on being young journalists. He emphasized the need to "learn how to write".
After our VIP access to the briefing, two Privates, one Army, one Air Force, gave us the typical tour. We were fortunate enough to see the memorial to the victims of 9/11. I did not know the Defense of Freedom Metal was created because of September 11th. We learned that the windows in the Pentagon are bullet-proof, bomb-proof, picture-proof,...basically, you name it-it can't get in. Each pane cost $20,000, but that cost was paid off in 7 years by the energy cost that was diminished. The windows that were hit in the attack on 9/11 were put right back in during reconstruction, that's how strong these windows are! Ironically, the area of the Pentagon that was hit, was the strongest in the building. The area was under construction, and during the process they had added steel reinforcements. (The building lacked this because it was constructed during WWII so, all the steel was going to the war effort.)
All in all it was a very intriguing trip.
Labels: PENTAGON VISIT
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