It has begun -- our 15 minutes of fame have kicked off. With mainstream media appearances yesterday in the Examiner and on NBC 4, DCist may soon go the way of Lindsay Lohan, spare the drug problem and eating disorder. But while we're here we may as well enjoy the warm glow of stardom. Ahhhh.

Yesterday I was privileged with the opportunity to appear on NBC 4 to complement a bit they had put together on blogger happy hours, specifically the outstanding blogger happy hours organized by online socialite extraordinaire Kathryn (see the segment and interview here). I was granted the awkward chance to speak for the region's blogosphere and answer that ever-pressing question: "Why do bloggers meet up and have a good time?" Beyond delivering a bumbling response, I was given an insight into how real news is made at one of the region's premier media outlets. After the jump, a few of those insights.

Prepping for Armageddon: NBC 4 is housed in a squat building along Nebraska Avenue within spitting distance of American University, though its closest and most obvious neighbor is a Navy Complex and Chapel that stretches from Tenley Ward Circle to the station's property, about two blocks away. The station's building is straight out of 1950, and given that it's surrounded by an impressive array of satellites and transmitting towers, you'd think this was the place where the U.S. would mount its defense against a Soviet invasion.

The Inner Sanctum: Upon entering the building and presenting myself to the security person manning the front desk, I was escorted to the Green Room. Needless to say, I was excited. I imagined a lavishly appointed room stocked high with free drinks and delicious foods to nibble on. It wasn't to be. NBC 4's Green Room is much like a waiting room at your dentist's office, except that the TV gets bad reception. How ironic is that? The TV was turned to NBC 4, and even in a building surrounded by millions of dollars worth of satellite equipment, the reception was fuzzy. I passed the time staring at the posters of 1950s NBC personalities.

The Studio: Very cool, very high-tech. Surprisingly small, though. Television makes everything appear bigger than it is. There were three different areas from which the station's personalities read the news, interviewed guests, or otherwise worked their way through the day's material. They were all within 10 feet of each other. I got shafted and had to settle for standing. What, is a blogger not good enough for a sit-down interview?

The Interview: First off, nothing in TV news is done patiently. Everything is frantic, with a mere minute-and-a-half standing between when you're supposed to be one place to when you're supposed to be miked and ready to go somewhere else. My interviewer was handed the questions she was to ask roughly 10 seconds before she actually went live, but she still maintained her composure and delivered the queries smoothly and surely. I can't praise newscasters' professionalism enough -- while I fumbled for words and tried to string together something approaching a coherent sentence, she hardly broke a sweat. And as much as prepping for an interview seems like a good idea, by the time things go live, you're left with pretty much nothing to say. And those deeply held desires to use your 30 seconds to make some profound statement about the state of the world? Gone. My initial plan to scream "Free Borf!" was foiled by my own nerves.

The Upstairs: Once done with the interview and offered a quick tour of the studio facilities, the first question I asked was, "Is there really an upstairs?" You know what I'm talking about. Newscasters have a tendency to say, "And now, for more on this, we go to Rob upstairs in the newsroom." NBC 4 isn't kidding. There really is an upstairs.

The Newsroom: The best part of the studio, where the stories all come together. Think of the most stereotypical newsroom you can, and you'll be thinking of what I experienced at NBC 4. A crowded room; plenty of cubicles littered with paper and decorated with family pictures and assorted cultural arcana; police scanners blaring; trays of catered foods; hectic staffers running to and fro with stories, leads, gossip, and complaints on segments gone wrong. And yes, there was some trash-talking of Fox 5, but I was assured it was all in jest. At one end of the newsroom is where weatherman Bob Ryan does his bit, though the blue screen with all the cool graphics is actually elsewhere. I wanted to ask Ryan what this weekend was shaping up to look like, but then I would be remembered as the toolish blogger that asked the weather guy about the weather.

Tim Russert Works Here: I was unaware that "Meet the Press" and "The McLaughlin Group" are both taped at the NBC 4 studios. Once informed of this fact, I showed my true Washington colors by getting all excited about the fact that I was in the studio that Tim Russert and his many high-powered guests were in on a weekly basis. The actual studio where the taping of the shows occurs wasn't as exciting, though -- it was being used for a sales meeting of sorts. The Green Room suddenly started seeming a lot more important. I wondered where Dick Cheney sat before he dropped in to defend the Iraq-Al Qaeda link everyone else was saying was bogus. Cool.

All told, an interesting experience. Many thanks to the fine folks at NBC 4 for indulging DCist's need for constant attention. The rest of you area TV stations, take note -- we're available for interviews, but now that we have one under our belt, we expect a limo.