Journalists are required to file more content than ever to cater for the fast-paced news cycle. There’s not just the reporter’s main publication, but also additional interviews, panel chats, online write-ups, and social media platforms; all hungry mouths to feed. It’s now common that a journalist has multiple deadlines throughout the day.

Reporters also keenly feel the public responsibility of covering an election campaign, especially when it comes to explaining the policies and choices that will shape the future of Australia.

The media is often interested in showing the public behind the curtain of the stage-managed machine, while sharing the announcements and commitments, and keeping politicians on their toes – especially if they spot a contradiction of a past statement or policy, a promise to voters that may be difficult to keep, or a policy short on detail.

Every day on a campaign is carefully planned by both sides, and campaign managers try their best to control every media opportunity; gone are the days of an unplanned walkthrough a shopping centre with cameras in tow.

For the most part, things go smoothly… but when they don’t, the cameras are there to capture it all.

For those travelling with the Prime Minister and the Opposition Leader, there is very short notice about where in the country they're off to next. What's guaranteed are visits to primary schools, cafes, bowling clubs, and industrial or manufacturing sites where everyone will have to wear a fluro vest and hard hat. 

Each side tries to keep their itinerary tightly under wraps to ensure the other side isn’t able to pre-empt any announcements, and also to reduce the chance of disrupters, hecklers, and more serious security threats.

We asked a journalist who has covered a number of Federal Elections to summarise their experience on the campaign trail:

Journalists like to joke that covering a federal campaign is a bit like a magical mystery tour, minus the magic. But in all seriousness, you mostly have no idea where you’ll be going each day and where you’ll be sleeping each night!

The two sides each have a media bus and a plane for the media. The leaders travel separately but you meet up in each location. Once you join the campaign, you’ll be told what time to get on the bus in the morning and it’s only once you’re on the bus that you learn where you’ll be going. But the days follow a familiar rhythm.

The leaders will always hold a press conference – this is the key event for journalists – as well as a couple of picture opportunities to provide the vision and photographs that the leaders want to illustrate the stories broadcast on TV or published online and in newspapers. The camera crews and snappers are constantly on the lookout for a stumble, or a sign like “Reject Shop” above a leader’s head. But campaign advancers are getting pretty good these days!

When the leader is finished in one location, journalists will have a bit of time to file before getting back on the bus and heading to the next stop. Often, it’s the airport. The biggest novelty is that the bus will drive straight onto the tarmac allowing journalists to get straight on the plane. No check in!

But it’s no free ride. The media pays their own way. Campaigns are both fun and exhausting to cover but also a privilege. You get to witness two leaders of the major parties, up close, competing to run this great country.