My Fabulous Job: A Political Reporter at 22!
2008 was one of the most exciting Presidential elections in U.S. history, and Karen Leigh, 22 at the time, had a front-row seat. Whether she was travelling on Hillary Clinton's private plane or hitting the campaign trail with John McCain, Karen received unique insight into the political process while she was just out of college.
Do Something reporter Vanessa Martir got the lowdown from this Bloomberg back in 2008, and this is what she had to say:
VM: What’s a day in the life of a Reporter for Bloomberg Media?
KL: When in DC, I follow President Bush around town. I’m part of the in-town travel pool at the White House. Basically we have a ring side seat to the president’s schedule. We follow him on Sunday mornings when he goes bike riding, during the week when he goes to the Pentagon or travels somewhere to present a speech. I also cover national security hearings. I wander around the Capital Building and I go out on the road with Hillary Clinton and any of the candidates that I’m assigned to.
VM: Right now, everybody wants to know about the candidates, so what are Obama and John McCain like off-camera?
KL: I spent time with both McCain and Obama. My most memorable moment with Obama was when we hung out on the plane from Bozeman, MT to Chicago. He perched on the aisle next to my seat and talked about a road trip he once took with his grandmother (she called him Barry), and about journaling when he was a kid. I was new to the campaign so he came over and introduced himself and welcomed me to his “merry band.”
McCain is very generous with the press and likes to bring a handful of reporters aboard his bus, the Straight Talk Express.
I once sat about three feet from the Senator, for half an hour on curvy roads through West Virginia (I get really bad carsickness, so this was a test), while he took questions. At the end he looked at me and said, “You haven’t said a word.” Luckily, I know to always have a few questions prepared, and talked with him about the youth vote and whether he thinks Obama has an advantage there.
McCain's Straight Talk Express stands by during a spring campaign stop near Charleston, West Virginia.
VM: And you spent a lot of time with Mrs. Clinton as well. What was that like?
KL: I first met her during a news conference at her headquarters in Arlington, VA and I introduced myself and told her I worked for Bloomberg. She said, “Hi, it’s nice to meet you.” I really thought that was the closest I’d ever get to her.
Then the following Thursday, my boss told me I was going to Wisconsin with Hillary and the next day I was on a plane with Hillary.
Two nights later we were on the plane. It was pushing midnight. We were in Madison, WI on our way to Cleveland, waiting on the tarmac for the plane to be de-iced. We were just hanging out, enjoying the free beer, having a good time; and she came back to where the reporters sat and she stood right next to my seat so my vantage point was literally looking up her nose. And she was talking to everyone and asked what we thought about our day, the food. It was this extraordinary moment for me; I’m sitting three inches from Hillary Clinton talking about gaining weight on the campaign trail. It’s just one of those moments when you just pinch yourself.
Standing next to Clinton as she greets supporters at a Bennigan's restaurant in Gary, Indiana, in April.
VM: Privately, you must have a favorite. But reporters must appear unbiased at all times. Is that hard?
KL: There’s a level of professionalism you have to maintain to keep your job. You don’t walk onto the campaign trail thinking, “This is Hillary Clinton or Obama or John McCain, the person I love.” You walk in thinking, “This is a presidential candidate, and I have to cover him or her, and I have to be unbiased and fair.” So I report the facts. For example, if Hillary introduces a plan, I don’t sit there like I did before I covered politics and think, “I really like that plan or don’t like it.” I just state the facts about the plan and let the readers decide for themselves.
There was one candidate I was somewhat partial to at first and they all knew it. They expected me to be young and a little bit biased but they told me I’d get over it and they were right. Now, McCain and Obama in a sense are no longer candidates to me. They’re just people I have to cover and I have to be completely impartial.
No one in our office discusses who they like and who they don’t like. No one on the trail discusses it either. There was one reporter actually who had a Hillary for President sticker on her laptop. Something like that could get you fired.
Leigh (holding white recorder) and other members of the traveling press corps talk to Obama during a stop at a diner in Milwaukie, Oregon, in May.
VM: Did you always know that you were going to be a reporter?
KL: I always knew. I made my first news paper when I was five with construction paper and crayons. I wrote fifteen copies of it. I was on the Yearbook committee and the student newspaper in elementary school (it was called the little scoop). When I was 12, I started writing for my paper in my hometown of Palisades, California. I worked there every other day while I was in high school. In college at the University of California at Santa Barbara, I wrote for the school paper, the daily paper, and the big arts weekly.
When I was 18, I got an internship at Entertainment Weekly, and they asked me back the following summer. From there I had a six-month internship at Time magazine in London. After that I went back to Entertainment Weekly and then went back to school because I’d left before completing my degree. I finished my literature degree and went to DC to work for the Bloomberg Network.
VM: Did you always want to be a political reporter?
KL: When I was little, I wanted to go on the campaign trail. I was obsessed with the Presidency. I had coffee table books about American Presidents. But I didn’t know I would grow to love reporting on national security, for example.
McCain's Straight Talk Express stands by during a spring campaign stop near Charleston, West Virginia.
VM: What would you tell a teenager who wants your job?
KL: I would tell them to just start writing; to find some kind of newspaper or newsletter. What’s important is that they start writing, that they get themselves out there. Find a good editor you like who can mentor you, who can point you in the right direction. I would also recommend that they study some sort of US history or government and politics. That’s what some one told me when I was 13, to study as much US history as you can because it will help with your writing and they were so right.
I tell every teenager interested in journalism and looking for a job, to get a great clip file. Write as much as you can and get as many clips as you can. Get a few good recommendations and that’s all you can do.
The view from Leigh's seat as Obama chats with the press aboard his plane, en route Bozeman, Montana, to Chicago, in May.
VM: It sounds like with everything you’ve done in your life was in preparation for this.
KL: Yes. I have big goals in life. One of them was to be on the campaign trail and I’m doing it. I remember telling people that when I was 13 and 14. Back then my grades were awful. People told me not to apply to college. I wasn’t the kid that people expected to succeed. I remember telling people that I was going to go on the trail and people would roll their eyes and say, Yeah, okay. And now, five years after I was flunking out of high school, I’m on the campaign trail.
VM: What’s the toughest part of your job?
KL: The hours. When we’re on the trail, we leave a hotel at 6:30 a.m. and get to the next hotel at 1 a.m. and you’ve worked nonstop all those hours in between, to then get up the next day to do the same thing. I’m writing stories on the bus. It’s especially hard for me because I get car sick.
It’s basically bus to the plane to the next event to the bus to the plane to the next event. But when you’re campaigning, you’re on a high. You kind of don’t feel it. And it doesn’t catch up with you until you’re home and you’re literally falling asleep at your desk because you’re so exhausted.
It’s a difficult job to do. I once filed four stories in one morning while I was in Indiana. But this election is historical so to be a part of it is extraordinary. So I just relegate any thoughts like, “God, I’m tired” until I get home.
Walking to board the Clinton campaign plane on a freezing February day in Wisconsin.
VM: Does the money make it worth it?
KL: Money is always a good thing to have because I have insurance, but I don’t think anyone in the world has gotten into journalism for the money. You don’t make a lot but you get to travel the world and get a sideline view of history. I believe that if you do something for the sake of money, you won’t be happy. Maybe I say that because I grew up in a very materialistic environment where I was always horrified to see people pay $200 on a pair of jeans. But I’ve learned that money doesn’t bring you happiness.
VM: You’re 22. Do you find you have to work harder to prove yourself?
KL: I was very wary of telling people my age but finally on my third outing with Hillary, I told a few of the other reporters. Their jaws hit the floor which I guess is a good thing because apparently I appear older.
I’ve always been on the younger side. Like when I was 21, I went to Russia to cover something for Time. I thought the minute people heard I’m 22, that would be the end of any scoop I might get, that would be the end of anyone taking me serious, but it was actually quite the opposite. I think they have a greater amount of respect for me because I am younger and doing this job. I’ve become a lot closer to people since they found out my age. There’s a little bit of a protective vibe. But they make it a point to tell me how proud they are.
Like everyone else I’ve had these crushing feelings of insecurity. And a lot of girls carry that into their twenties. But the minute you get out onto the workplace and you’re doing a good job and you’re acknowledged for it, that does more for your esteem than anything else. I’ve worked really hard and there are a lot of days that I think, “What is this for?” There are days I work 15 hours and I don’t get a “Thank you” or a pat on my back or an “I’m proud of you.” But when people really respect you, these older, established journalists, you get this feeling that it’s all paid off, that it’s all worth it.
VM: What most impresses you about working in the political arena?
KL: The politicians’ hard work. Bush gets a lot of flack because he goes to bed early but if you see how early he starts and how much happens in one day, you’d understand. I don’t know if he loves what he’s doing because I’ve never talked to him but he works really, really hard. You see the weight of the world on his shoulders. To see how these people handle this extraordinary amount of pressure, I mean, we have pressure – how am I going to pay my rent, how am I going to make good grades - but when we see what real pressure looks like, those things seem so trivial.
VM: Is there anything else you want to tell teens of today?
KL: Yes, especially to young girls. There’s a major emphasis on how you look, how thin you are, what you’re wearing and how popular you are. The minute you lose that mindset, you find there’s so much more to life than your looks. When you’re on the trail, you wear crappy clothes and eat whatever carbs they throw at you on the plane. You’re running from event to event with your laptop, writing stories while the bus is bouncing around driving to the next event. You’re not focused on how you look; you’re focused on the job and the incredible people you work with, and the reality that you’re watching history unfurl. As you get older and get a whole new set of priorities, life gets better. I wish I hadn’t have spent so much time worrying about how I looked and people telling me that I wasn’t going to amount to anything because they were wrong.
My moment of redemption came one day in Wisconsin. I was sitting in a diner and people were going crazy, waving their Hillary for President signs, and I was sitting in this awkward position typing on my laptop and I thought about the people who told me that I wasn’t a good writer when I knew that I was. And here I am - a political journalist. This is something I wanted to do since I was twelve and I’m doing it.
