Elections present journalists with a unique challenge.
At some point in the very early hours of Friday morning, the coffee at the results centre in Tshwane ran out.
But the cameras didn’t care. They kept rolling: the 24-hour news cycle is an insatiable beast that, even in the best of times, cares little for the journalists responsible for feeding it. As one correspondent for an American newspaper put it: “You have to cover elections. But it’s hard to make your coverage stand out, because everyone is doing the same story.”
In Tshwane’s Events Centre, the temporary headquarters of the IEC, those flurries coincide with the arrival on the vast results centre floor of top-ranking politicians; or when the electoral observers deliver their verdict, prompting a scrum of microphones and cameras, with reporters jostling for strategic positions so they can be the first to ask a question.
By Friday morning, when the final results start taking shape, the mood amongst the media contingent lifts. It helps that fresh coffee has arrived, and breakfast too — the quality of the catering is first class. For most reporters, the end of the marathon is in sight, and this is where it starts to get really interesting.
The relatively intimate access can be a double-edged sword, giving politicians a chance to vent their own frustrations about the media coverage they have received. “I think like all industries the media is facing a resource challenge, and you can sense that in terms of the deployment of media to events and so on,” said Mabine Seabe, spokesperson for Democratic Alliance leader Mmusi Maimane.
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