Election Day is interesting in any newsroom. And while the perception of journalists scrambling for numbers and interviews is true, those bursts of frantic reporting are just that – bursts. The rest of the day is spent pretending to be busy and hurrying up to wait, too distracted to complete any meaningful work. Here’s a rundown of what the recent midterms looked like wandering the offices of the Flathead Beacon in downtown Kalispell.
8:27 a.m. Get coffee and settle in for a long day. Tell hilarious jokes to coworkers.
8:35 a.m. Check email, most of which is spam from Democrats, Republicans and their respective supporters detailing what to expect on Election Day. Each contains several “!!!!!!!!”
9 a.m. Walk to kitchen to see if anyone brought doughnuts to work. Complain when no one did.
9:30 a.m. Post story on voting information.
9:31 a.m. Send out obligatory Tweet telling everyone to vote. Cruise through Facebook feed, which is already filling up with “I Voted” sticker selfies.
10 a.m. Attend department head meeting. Complain to other department heads about how long of a day I will be working today.
10:30 a.m. Deliver inspiring speech to newsroom about the importance of our Election Day coverage.
11:45 a.m. Head to the gym to maintain strength for the amazingly long day ahead of me.
12:05 p.m. Drink protein shake, even though I didn’t work hard enough to deserve one.
12:10 p.m. Tell coworkers how sore I am from excruciatingly difficult workout.
12:15 p.m. Tell coworkers that I will be reward them for working such a long day by ordering pizza that evening.
12:16 p.m. Ignore coworkers when they tell me I order pizza every election.
12:20 p.m. Begin working on the election results template on the back end of the website.
2:30 p.m. Tell reporter that the piece of paper scribbled with “Flathead Beacon Election Decision Center 2014” taped to the back of his computer is a little much. He disagrees.
5 p.m. Watch television news stations as the first results start trickling. Analysts are out of breath from so much analyzing.
5:42 p.m. Order eight pizzas.
6:15 p.m. Pick up eight pizzas.
8 p.m. Polls close. Assume game face.
8:01 p.m. Republican Rep. Steve Daines declared the winner of U.S. Senate race. Post story on Daines’ win, to which a reader asks on Twitter: “Could we not at least enjoy a beer before calling a race 9 minutes after the polls closed?”
8:30 p.m. Tell photographer not to panic as he tries to simultaneously get a photograph of Phil Mitchell in Kalispell and Ryan Zinke in Whitefish. He somehow pulls it off.
9:07 p.m. Secretary of State website crashes. Reporters panic. So does every other reporter in Montana
9:19 p.m. Still crashed and no Flathead results. Text reporter stationed at fairgrounds to assure him we are waiting for his phone call with results. He says he knows.
9:25 p.m. First Flathead results trickle in.
9:50 p.m. Secretary of State site back online.
10:25 p.m. Post story on Republican Ryan Zinke’s win.
10:28 p.m. Phil Mitchell wins the Flathead County commission race.
11:02 p.m. Only two more races to keep an eye on: Flathead Emergency Communications Special District and House District 3 race between Zac Perry and Jerry O’Neil.
12:50 a.m. The last of the Flathead results, except for provisional ballots, are counted. Appears Perry, a Democrat, wins and ballot initiative creating 911 district fails.
12:51 a.m. Drive home.