War zone

A slow news day it was not.

Multiple disasters blizzard, flood and a 17-car pile up kept broadcast news crews hopping from Truckee to Fernley to points between as the first weekend of 2008 dawned.

In the midst of it all sat news directors, faced with the problem of how to use a limited staff to cover all hell when it breaks loose.

"It takes a lot of planning, and the ability to make fast decisions," says Mary Beth Farrell, general manager at KRNV Channel 4. "But on that weekend, the biggest challenge was simply keeping up with all events."

KTVN Channel 2 News Director Jason Pasco had just returned from vacation when all hell broke loose.

"We did have a plan in place because we knew the storm was coming," he says.

At KOLO Channel 8, planning began Wednesday night, says News Director Bob Page. He had already deployed a crew to Truckee Thursday night and had crews work overnight Friday night.

"With a plan in place, you can respond instead of react," he says.

Farrell echoes, "The importance of planning was never more important than it was then. But the best-laid plans can all be torn apart."

The KRNV station was already outfitted as crisis headquarters Friday night with key personnel, News Director Kirk Frosdick among them, camped out in sleeping bags on site.

But the rank and file played a vital role in providing real time coverage of the multiple weather-related events.

At KTVN, Pasco says 50 people were on payroll at some time that weekend. With just 35 in the news department, that meant production and engineering were also recruited to the fray.

"At some point that weekend the entire staff worked," he says. "Many did 15- to 18-hour days. Everyone here understands there's that commitment. In news, everyone's on-call informally all the time."

Many broadcast staff didn't wait to be called.

Farrell notes, "A lot of people came in without us even calling."

And Page recalls, "People were showing up for work before their shift started. I've been places where you had to go out and get them moving with a shotgun."

But getting staff on site is just the start of logistics management. Equipment is integral to broadcasting.

To cover the impending blizzard, TV stations had already sent their vans equipped with satellite feed capability into the Sierra.

"But the levee break changed everything," says Pasco.

News crews turned road crews to dig out the blizzard-buried trucks, chain them up and trundle off to the opposite far end of their world, Fernley.

However, in a flood, vehicles get blocked and the best vantage point is from the air.

KOLO News Director Page says the Nevada National Guard provided a helicopter. But the guard will take on board only one print and one broadcast reporter. That one designated sky rider is supposed to immediately share that aerial footage with all competitors, says Page. But sometimes the temptation to withhold that timely prize from the competition can be overwhelming, he adds.

Not to be overshadowed by the showy whirlybird, the lowly cell phone was also a star. Reporters returning from the flood coverage in Fernley found their passage blocked by a 17-car pile up caused by a jackknifed semi truck that closed westbound Interstate 80. "Reporters communicated by cell phone," says Pasco.

No news crew personnel were injured in the coverage. Managers credit safety training.

"Once a month we do OSHA safety training," says Page. And Pasco says his staff train on safety in driving and using equipment. And took wildfire training before covering Tahoe fires.

But the bottom line took a bloody beating.

In the broadcast business, a major disaster means major overtime. Putting people up at motels on site. And on top of it all, the loss of ad revenue when regularly scheduled ads are cancelled in favor of continuous coverage.

"It's all part of the cost of doing business," says Pasco.

Finally, broadcast station managers must think of the aftermath: How to ensure they're not left with a staff stretched thin and shell shocked from the long hours deployed in rough field conditions.

"When we go wall to wall with coverage, people like the production manager and news producer are in the control room non-stop," says Farrell. "People were running food and water in to them."

Pasco adds, "So many things we cover are sad, even tragic." The cure? "I never saw a place that has more cake, pies and cookies."