A Baltimore bridge collapsed in the middle of the night and two metro newsrooms leapt into action

Nothing gets pulses racing faster in a metro newsroom than a huge disaster story that breaks unexpectedly. That scenario played out twice early Tuesday — at the 186-year-old Baltimore Sun and the upstart 2-year-old Baltimore Banner — when a massive container ship hit the tall Key Bridge, knocking it over.

Their coverage had much in common but some marked differences too, especially in visuals. Editors of both papers told me they were scrambling all day Tuesday for the up-to-the-minute coverage that would satisfy readers, giving almost no thought to their local competitor.

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