The artist’s house was badly damaged, but her gallery survived mostly unscathed. Reporter Charles Runnells got in touch with an artist who evacuated to Ohio.Reporter Kate Cimini talked to a couple who narrowly escaped rising waters and then later returned to find their home still intact, but badly flooded.Fort Myers Beach homeowner Marc Taglieri gave his firsthand account to reporter Janine Zeitlin of the total devastation he witnessed while going to check on his home, which was miraculously still standing despite water in the cabinets, oven and even his refrigerator. ![]() Powell pointed to some of the outstanding work being done. We are running out of basic supplies, waiting in the same lines for gas and water.” Like you, we couldn’t and still can’t reach friends or family because of the lack of power and connectivity. We have some whose homes and cars were damaged or destroyed. In a newsletter to readers, Wendy Fullerton Powell - the Southwest Florida region editor for Gannett’s USA Today Network and the Naples Daily News - wrote, “Our team of journalists at The News-Press and Naples Daily News has been working around the clock, all while living what you have lived. They desperately want to keep serving their community because they are as affected by this storm as their readers.” Even as we try to let them rest or send reinforcements, they don’t want to stop their work. Several have lost their homes or they’re uninhabitable. “Our teams in Fort Myers and Naples deserve just the highest praise for what they are doing in extremely trying circumstances. “It’s very challenging to have to cover an extremely important story that threatens your community and still be a part of that community and feel that threat,” Orsi said. The storm may be long gone, but the work is, in many ways, just beginning. The plans included not just covering the storm, but securing hotel rooms for staff and figuring out how in the world to handle a story that likely would wipe out power, internet and cellphones. Plans were put in place and coverage began. A full week before the storm hit land, the staff began meeting. Gannett has more than 300 journalists in Florida, including at papers in towns directly impacted by Ian - such as Fort Myers, Naples and Sarasota, as well as Lakeland, Daytona Beach, St. Orsi (who is also on Poynter’s board of trustees) told me what the past week has been like. On Monday, I talked to Jennifer Orsi, executive editor of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune and the top editor of Gannett-owned papers in Florida and Georgia. It was a storm that threatened their lives, the lives of their family and friends and the place they call home. That’s what journalists in Florida - especially near where powerful Hurricane Ian made landfall - went through last week. Now imagine covering that story while worrying if that same storm is going to wipe out your home and endanger your family. ![]() Covering a monster of a hurricane with catastrophic winds and a life-threatening storm surge is challenging, stressful and scary for any journalist.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |