Covering Another California Disaster p.

By: M.L. Stein

Los Angeles-area newspapers responded quickly to the Jan. 17
earthquake, providing broad coverage under severe conditions sp.

LIKE FIREFIGHTERS PREPARED for the next alarm, Los Angeles-area newspapers responded quickly and massively to the 6.6 earthquake Jan. 17.
The fire bell metaphor seems appropriate for news staffs that in recent months have fanned out to cover devastating brush fires and major rioting.
Although the quake's severest damage was in the San Fernando Valley, where it was centered, virtually all other sections of the Los Angeles basin were jolted hard. Freeways collapsed and hundreds of homes, businesses and public buildings were buckled by the temblor. A week after the quake, the death toll was 51.
The Los Angeles Daily News' headquarters in Woodland Hills and its Santa Clarita Valley production facility were hit so hard that editorial and production staffs were forced out. The ceiling caved in on the newsroom and power went out. For the first-day story, editor Robert Burdick and his staff set up an emergency newsroom at the Santa Monica Outlook and printing was done at the Torrance Daily Breeze, both Copley Los Angeles Newspapers.
On the second night, the news staff moved to the Pasadena Star-News and published at the West Covina plant of the San Gabriel Valley Tribune Inc. By Jan. 19, the Woodland Hills facility was declared safe by inspectors and operations resumed there under a newsroom banner that said "Home Sweet Home." Two helicopters were hired to carry negatives to the newspaper's plant in Valencia.
The Daily News published a 12-page, no-advertising special the first day, nine pages the second day and 30 the third day. Single copies were a sell-out, Burdick said, adding that bundles of papers were dropped off free at shelters for residents rendered homeless by the quake.
Burdick said there was full turnout of the staff on the story despite the fact that the Valley homes of several of them suffered damage.
Functioning newspapers opening their facilities to power-robbed papers was a common occurrence during the first hours after the quake.
One of the biggest obstacles in the early hours after the quake was the lack of power to operate computers and dead or overstressed phone lines.
For a few hours, Los Angeles Times staffers worked out of the plant's parking lot, using cellular phones. Even the backup generators were not working, metro editor Leo Wolinsky said.
The Times threw more than 120 people on the story, including the paper's entire staff at its Valley edition. Like many other newspapers, the Times has an emergency plan on paper, but Wolinsky said, "When it comes down to dealing with a disaster, you use your wits and fly by the seat of your pants. Plans are not predictable."
One way the Times got news was by using direct telephones to staffers for reports on what was happening in their neighborhoods. Besides the metro staff, writers from Calendar, Real Estate, Business and other sections contributed to the overall picture. The Sacramento bureau went to work on the state aid angle.