Winning is easier than losing, simple as that.
You do not feel like you’ve wasted all your time. You do not feel like what matters most to you has been tossed aside.
But you learn more from losing. You learn how to keep your emotions under control and do the job you need to do.
It is much the same for journalists when covering losses.
If you have spent time profiling a candidate or an athlete, you will eventually get to know them on a personal level.
You start wanting them to succeed because you have seen how hard they work, and it gets easy to get emotional when things do not go their way.
Victories are also easier to cover. People are excited, happy and more inclined to talk to you.
Not so much with defeat.
With dejection and disappointment, no one really wants to give an interview.
You need to push them in order for them to talk to you without upsetting them, and that line can be pretty thin.
It is a learning experience with a sharp curve, especially when covering your first event.
As they said back in ABC’s Wide Wide World of Sport: “The thrill of victory, the agony of defeat.”
One happens much more than the other and the more you learn about handling it, the better person you will be.