This past Friday, my workday was anything but typical. As an intern in the Law and Justice Unit of ABC News, I have been helping to cover celebrity court cases. Friday was a big day for the unit, because rumor had it that the jury assigned to the Martha Stewart trial would reach a verdict. On Thursday, I was told that I would be helping out at the courthouse. And so, on Friday at 9 a .m., I met up with the team of reporters covering the trial at the Federal Courthouse in Manhattan.
The day started out slowly, with introductions, background on what had been happening, instructions, and a lot of waiting. I was told that the way ABC makes sure that its correspondents get the breaking news of the trial on live television is by having individual people run each piece of news out as they hear it. On Friday, one person's job was to run out that there was a verdict, and then others were assigned for each count that followed. I was the "verdict runner," or the first to run out and tell the correspondent to expect a ruling. After finding out my job, I was excited and ready to go, waiting for the first sign that an announcement may be coming. But none came, and so we all settled in with newspapers and other reading material to keep ourselves busy.
At 1 p.m. the jury broke for lunch, and so did the media. At 2 p.m., as we reconvened, it was obvious that there was tension in the air. Word had been circulating that the jury had come to a decision. As we all sat in the media overflow room, or the room where we could watch the direct feed of what was going on in the adjacent courtroom, we could feel the heightened energy and anticipation. Everyone was waiting. After about an hour, the judge entered the courtroom again, followed by the jury. She sat down, leaned forward and began, "Jury, I have received your verdict and…" But that was all I needed. I leaped out of my chair and sprinted out of the room. Although there were hoards of reporters and press people all running toward the door to exit the courthouse, I somehow ended up at the front of the line. And so as I burst out of the door and down the steps, with masses of cameras and journalists behind barricades on either side, I was overwhelmed by the screams and questions directed at me. "Is there a verdict?!" "What's going on?!" But I ran straight for the ABC correspondent, told them there was a verdict and headed right back up the stairs for more directions.
The rest of the day was exciting, as we found out the details of the guilty ruling. Interviewed a juror, and watched as Martha and her lawyers exited the courthouse. But the most exciting part of the day was that few minutes after the verdict was read, especially being the first to get the news out (I later found out that I was on television live.) While the work of an intern is often routine, having the opportunity to be there when the news breaks is an exceptional experience that makes it all worthwhile.
