Covering the pope's visit: what it is like for the media

NEW YORK (FOX 5 NEWS) - On television, all the coverage from reporters about the pope hopefully looks and sounds organized, comfortable and captivating. In reality, covering an event like a papal visit is a little less glamorous.

As a viewer with a cable subscription, you can watch pope coverage on at least eight different channels in this country alone (thank you for watching Fox 5).

All those satellite trucks parked in rows largely stay parked in rows. Street closures, police barricades and stationary traffic prevent any of the excitement of speeding from scene to scene. Mostly news crews arrive early and wait for a view not that different from any other spectator's.

But occasionally all that sitting, all those cramped spaces, and all that nifty camera work to make a situation seem more exclusive than it actually is result in a legitimately unique experience -- just maybe not as well-organized or comfortable or captivating as it hopefully appears on TV.