Adam Flash/The Hofstra Chronicle
An air of anxious excitement filled the halls of the Lawrence Herbert School of Communication Tuesday night. Professionally dressed students darted in and out of the building, donning their masks and event badges as they prepared for the big night ahead. Election day was finally here, and Hofstra Votes LIVE was about to begin. Breaking news doesn’t stop for anyone, even during a pandemic. With nearly 200 students and faculty working together, both remotely and in person, the production was very different from the inaugural 2018 broadcast.
Preparation for this highly anticipated event started at the beginning of the semester, and on Tuesday night, it was time to put all the hard work and long hours to the test. Student reporters, producers, anchors and crew members filled studios and classrooms, eager to deliver election updates throughout the night. Victoria Chong, a senior video and television production major and Hofstra Votes LIVE senior technical director, expressed her excitement for the event.
“It’s really great for everyone to still be able to work together in a socially distant way despite the circumstances that we’re in,” Chong said. “It’s been a lot of fun to kind of push the [School of Communication] to see what it’s technically capable of while making sure we’re not breaking any guidelines.”
Though the COVID-19 pandemic brought about many challenges for this production, it also created a unique opportunity for resourceful and creative election coverage. With a mix of onsite reporters, local and national correspondents and even an anchor streaming in from Minnesota, the Hofstra Votes LIVE team has done the most to adapt to this difficult situation.
“The challenges that we’ve had to face with social distancing and how we’re laying everything out has created a situation where the students have had to come up with a lot of creative solutions on their own,” said assistant journalism professor Nicole Clarity. “It’s a good skill to learn, especially in these times. If there is a silver lining to the difficulties of this process, it’s that it sort of forced them to be really creative and come up with all sorts of different alternative options for how to move things forward.”
Though Hofstra Votes LIVE has a number of faculty members involved, it is the students who truly brought this event to life. Having students from all different majors, years and experience levels brings a diverse range of talent to the production.
“We definitely have a lot of team members that are all different moving parts of this well-oiled machine,” said senior video TV and film major and Hofstra Votes LIVE curtain raiser executive producer Nerys Muller. “It’s definitely a lot more challenging than people would think, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
If there’s been any takeaway from other studio shows this semester, it’s that a good production is a safe production. Enforcing social distancing and mask wearing was a top priority for Hofstra Votes LIVE. Senior television production major and Hofstra Votes LIVE national executive producer, Julia Wachtel, explained how they’re working to keep people safe during the live production.
“Everybody on air will be wearing masks. There is no one who’s not going to be wearing one,” Wachtel said. “This was really important to us because we want the crew and our anchors to feel safe, and I really don’t think [wearing masks] takes that much away from the actual broadcast.”
As the clock ticked closer to the start of the broadcast at 8 p.m., the energy among Hofstra Votes LIVE participants only increased.
“Everyone is just so excited to be here and wants to do everything they can to make the best broadcast possible,” said senior public relations major and social media team member Madie Mento. “Even since I got here at 2 p.m., it has been the most energizing experience.”
Although the broadcast had a bit of a rocky start, the high points of Hofstra Votes LIVE outshined its lows. To put on an event of this caliber during normal times is a huge accomplishment, but it is even more impressive to execute amid COVID-19. Though the coming days will likely yield more concrete results, providing accurate election night coverage is essential to keeping communities informed, both on campus and across the country.
