2012 U.S. Presidential Primary: Covering the Coverage

A photo journal of media coverage in Manchester, New Hampshire
© Bruce A. Conti

The atmosphere was electric as media from around the world converged upon Manchester, New Hampshire, to cover the 'first in the nation' presidential primary.  An international media village was constructed on the grounds of the downtown Radisson Hotel to cover the event.

   
Elm Street, downtown Manchester, was a busy place leading up to Election Day.  Manchester Police on horseback kept a close watch on the activity.

      
The media village assembled on the grounds of the downtown Radisson Hotel included a stand-alone CBS News broadcast studio.

      
Manuel Gallegus, New York-based correspondent for CBS News, was on the street beat interviewing voters.   The above photo on the right is a peek inside the CBS Radio Affiliates newsroom in the Radisson Hotel.  Access was restricted.

      
Media vehicles were everywhere, including 92.5 WXRV The River and Sirius XM cars.

            
The WHDH-TV Boston 7 News truck was on the move, and found a spot on Elm Street downtown to setup its microwave link.  Above right is a close-up shot of a microwave link antenna.

       
Jay Lee reporting for YTN www.ytn.co.kr South Korea and his videographer were taking in all the action on Elm Street.  Vlademir Lenski of Star TV from Russia watches as his videographer captures the scene before heading out from the media village.

      
Hieki Yabu of NHK Japan and his videographer test the equipment, and then they get busy interviewing voters on Elm Street.  Videographers tend to be shy, as was this camera person from NHK who didn't want to be identified. I guess that's why they're behind the camera.

       
Melinda Davenport, WMUR News 9 anchor, looked like she would've preferred warmer weather while strategizing with her videographer who was earlier seen capturing the Occupy activity on Elm Street (right).

   
Politico reporter Julio Negron also does the camera work while interviewing Shannon Thompson of Occupy New Hampshire.  The occupiers had the perfect location in Veterans Park across the street from the media village, attracting international attention.

      
Rana Abtar, congressional correspondent for Al Hurra, Voice of America (VOA) television serving the Middle East, reports from the Occupy site.  Meanwhile freelance videographer Todd Ziemek working for New England Satellite (NES) shot some scenes on Betacam for Al Hurra, where a 4:3 aspect ratio is still used.

      
The NES truck was subcontracted by Al Hurra.  It provided on-site electric power for lighting and video equipment, and a satellite link to VOA headquarters in Washington DC.  Above right is one of the "Ikie" cameras used by NES videographers.  NES nescomm.com is a federal government General Services Administration (GSA) contract holder.

  
Jesper Steinmetz of TV 2 Danmark avoided the cold weather by conducting interviews indoors at the Radisson.  Above right is the Associated Press (AP) newsroom in the Radisson. The AP room provided the reporting desks for media from BFMTV France, PBS Newshour, Phoenix Hong Kong, RTVE Spain, TeleCanal+ France, and TV Tokyo.

        
Back outside on Elm Street, WXKS Talk 1200 radio joined the media circus, as Dunyaa dunyaanews.tv television from Pakistan setup a wireless internet link to the newsroom on a laptop computer using Clear broadband.

   
Melissa Russo from 4 NBC New York City interviewed a voter on Elm Street, while across the street a videographer from France 24 www.france24.com, a relatively new 24/7 news channel, was capturing background scenes.

      
Above left Eurovision prepares for a live broadcast from their platform in the media village, powered by a Filmworks International generator truck.  Eurovision www.eurovision.net is a department of the European Broadcasting Union www.ebu.ch, the largest association of national broadcasters in the world.

      
The WABC-TV New York satellite truck claimed a prime parking spot on Elm Street next to the media village.  Above right is a sneak peek at satellite and video signal monitors inside the WABC-TV truck.

        
WJAR Rhode Island and NBC News satellite trucks hiding in the back parking lot of the Radisson media village.

         
The WFXT Boston Fox 25 satellite truck served as the hub for a remote studio inside the Radisson plus four additional trucks covering various events throughout New Hampshire.  Broadcast operator Shawn Denoncour N1WOF was kind enough to give a quick tour during a break in the action. Above right is some of the equipment inside the truck.  The dual band Ku satellite link transmitted a 6 MHz digital signal on 14217.000 MHz to Boston headquarters and received signals between 11 - 12 GHz with the units mounted on the horn of the satellite dish to avoid line loss.  The truck is also equipped with a backup microwave link and its own electric power generator, although for this operation the truck was plugged into the hotel power.

   
Above left is master control which connects the Fox 25 remote studio to the satellite truck via fiber optic lines.  Note the mobile ham rig used for communication (parked atop a 12 VDC power supply between the monitors and mixing board).  The Fox 25 studio in the Radisson was dark at the time, but soon would be busy with live broadcasts for the evening news.

That's a look at some of the national and international media activity focused on the 2012 Presidential Primary in Manchester, New Hampshire.  As life in the 'Queen City' returns to normal, enjoy the calm before the next media storm arrives in 2016.


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