Kudos for the Las Vegas Sun’s hotel fire coverage
Rob Curley, Vice President of Product Development for Washingtonpost/Newsweek Interactive, is gushing over the way The Las Vegas Sun covered the big Monte Carlo Hotel fire this week.Rob writes in his blog:
It started with a live blog updated by several members of the newsroom staff. I’m not sure how often the blog was updated, but it had new content every time I looked at it. Obviously, tons and tons of updates to it throughout the day.
Then came the photos.
Leila Navidi/Las Vegas Sun
—Then came the overview of the Monte Carlo hotel and this incredibly well-done historical context of the fire.
Then came the videos. Here is another. And another, which seems to go with this very funny blog post.
And what made this so impressive was that with the exception of the videos, which I thought were pretty dang good, all of this coverage came while the hotel was still burning.
… To me, this was a nearly textbook example of how a local newspaper should cover a big breaking news story in its community in the iPhone era.
And, if you’re interested, the Sun published a cool story Saturday recounting, minute-by-minute, how the fire unfolded:
Ruth Santiago, who’s been on the housekeeping staff at the Monte Carlo since it opened, is cleaning rooms on the seventh floor. She’s one of 950 employees working at that hour.
Lynn Briggs of Amherst, N.H., is in town for the pageant — she’s the coach for Miss New Hampshire. She’s already checked in to her 28th-floor room and has decided to go for a walk up the Strip.
And there’s a fire on the roof of the 32-story hotel, offering a thickening column of black smoke against the winter sky.
Nobody inside knows. There aren’t any fire alarms on a roof.
But the flames are drawing gasps from pedestrians and motorists.
Back to Rob Curley’s blog: Rob goes on to give five tips on how newspapers ought to cover breaking news. It’s great stuff; make sure you check it out.
But an important point is this: It’s going to require resources.