Iowa Caucus Deep Freeze Didn’t Stop WEBN’s Hot Coverage
Molly Dougherty ’25 does a standup in front of the Iowa State House as Payton Cavanaugh ’25, left, and Sofia Mendes ’24 film her. 
Payton Cavanaugh ’25 interviews presidential candidate Ryan Binkley. 
The Iowa Caucus was the first Republican Party preliminary contest. 
Snow atop a statue outside of the Iowa State House. 
Vivek Ramaswamy speaks at a house party in Iowa before dropping out of the presidential race. 
Left to right: Callie Krosin ’25, Elizabeth Pereira ’24, Payton Cavanaugh (holding camera) ’25. and Molly Dougherty ’25, brave winter conditions to record standups for WECB. 
Former presidential candidate and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis speaks to the crowd after coming in second at the Republican Party’s Iowa Caucus. DeSantis dropped out of the race soon afterward. 
Left: Gentry Collins, former Executive Director of the Iowa Republican Party, and Nicole Schlinger, president of CampaignHQ. 
A snowy day meant very few drivers were on the road. 
Donald Trump Jr spoke to supporters in Ankeny, Iowa.
Below zero temperatures did not stop the WEBN team from covering the Republican Party’s Iowa Caucus.
WEBN‘s staff spoke with many politicians, including former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, U.S. Senate candidate Kari Lake (R-AZ), Donald Trump Jr., former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy and presidential candidate Ryan Binkley, and many more.
News Director Molly Dougherty, ‘25 has been involved with WEBN and its show Political Pulse since her first year at Emerson.
“It felt incredibly rewarding to go to this event with the show that truly changed my life for the better,” said Dougherty. “Despite the freezing conditions, our team made the best of everything.”
Sofia Mendes ’24 enjoyed getting out into the field and covering the Republican caucus.
“One thing I’ve been trying to do since joining the Political Pulse leadership team is diversify our coverage of politics, and this week was the perfect example of that,” Mendes said. “Exposing yourself to writing about policies that you don’t necessarily agree with is challenging work, but it’s part of the objectivity that many people believe is missing in journalism today.”
Photos by Rian Nelson ’25
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