As Marco and Laura approached the Gulf Coast this week, local reporters prepared for a crisis within a crisis.
The National Press Club Journalism Institute reached out to local papers via email to learn how their publications planned to cover the storms safely during the pandemic.
“The number one biggest issue this year is sheltering operations, so that’s also been a focus for coverage,” said Lauren Walck, senior news editor at the Biloxi (Mississippi) Sun Herald. “As one EMA manager told me, it’s quite the quandary because COVID may or may not kill but storm surge and the wind will.”
“There is no camping out in a hotel full of people or crashing in a crowded shelter somewhere until the next day,” said Jacob Dick, business reporter at Beaumont (Texas) Enterprise.
