Election Reflection

By Grace Bonamico

Photos by Isabella Escobar

Before the 2024 election cycle, I couldn’t point out states like Missouri and Mississippi on a map (even though I could spell the latter). Yet, by Election Day, I had mastered each state’s location. I reviewed my U.S. geography to report from “the board” for FTC Mass Comm’s Election Night coverage. It was extra special for me to cover this election because it was the first presidential election in which I could vote. 

Though I knew I would be a part of the broadcast team, only two weeks before Election Day, I learned that my position would be in front of the green screen board calling out race results and announcing elector college tallies. The first rehearsal was a struggle for me as it was my first time reading the draft script, and I struggled to locate states that I couldn’t actually see on the green screen.  Instead, a monitor above helped guide my direction. At the end of that first stressful practice, one silver lining was knowingly pointing to New Mexico.

The Friday before the broadcast, we had another practice; my state IQ was rising, and my familiarity with the script put me more at ease. Still, after Friday’s practice, I spent hours on my laptop, quizzing myself on the land of the free until I could point out the location of every state without making a single mistake. I was still worried about Mississippi and Missouri but was proud of mastering this challenge in the timeframe I did. 

On November 5th, I woke up around 4 am to get in line to vote before the wait became too long. I was the fourth person there. Once the polls opened, I cast my ballot within ten minutes of entering the building, though I did not get the coveted “I Voted” sticker as I had hoped. After voting, my day was typical; I went to campus to do Good Morning FTC on the FTC Sound Stream and attended class before leaving to prepare for Election Night coverage.

Pics: Behind the scenes on Election Night.

When I got to the control room at the 6 pm call time, it was already busy with students running around to get everything ready for the broadcast, which was two hours away. Many of my classmates had behind-the-scenes roles operating cameras, graphics, and audio boards. My professors buzzed around with feedback. It takes a huge team to put on this scale of a broadcast. At that point in the night, I started to get nervous. I’d done live coverage at FTC for the Long Island Media Arts Show and during the Great South Bay Music Festival over the summer, but that was all on the radio. Tonight was a live-streamed video broadcast and the first time Five Towns College’s Mass Comm Division would produce Election Night coverage. 

Shortly before our first 8 pm broadcast update, I made my way to Studio 400 and took my place in front of the green screen. When we went live, results were already in, and I started reporting on states that had been called. My first live hit went better than I expected. I remembered the locations of the states and didn’t trip over my words; my only problem was that I was speaking a little too quickly. We did an update every half an hour, and with every update, more and more states got called. Our eyes were glued to the Associated Press (AP) map between on-air broadcasts to see which way states were leaning and how they had been called. 

Despite the stress, every update went well, and though I was exhausted by the night’s end, I was proud of myself and what I did. I’ve never been more challenged than at the board on election night. I’m grateful to have been a part of this big production, especially as a sophomore. It’s an adventure I will carry for the rest of my college and professional career. And though I didn’t receive an “I Voted” sticker, I can always go online to watch a major part of my first Election Day.