Isabel Doesn't Stop Coastal Papers From Publishing

By: Joe Strupp Updated at 4:10 p.m. Eastern Standard Time

From a loss of drinking water to power outages and missed deliveries, newspapers along Hurricane Isabel's path battled a variety of problems Thursday and Friday, with most successfully publishing on or close to schedule, albeit under unusual circumstances.

"It was a terrible night, but we planned for it," said J. Stewart Bryan, chairman and CEO of Media General Inc. and publisher of the flagship Richmond Times-Dispatch, on Friday. "We had some intermittent power failures, but we are distributing this morning with all of our products."

All 10 of Media General's Virginia papers were able to publish Friday, Bryan said, although the Times-Dispatch had no water and brought in portable toilets to be used in the parking lot. Bottled water and about 20 pots of coffee also were provided for workers, with a directive for some 80% of Times-Dispatch staffers to stay home Friday. "You can't have people in here when toilets don't work," Bryan explained.

The hurricane forced the Times-Dispatch, daily circulation 187,000, to begin its usual 10:30 p.m. press run an hour earlier Thursday night, while also limiting the paper to a single edition instead of its usual three, Bryan said. He added that about 10% of Times-Dispatch customers did not get a newspaper Friday, while about 5% of the company's other Virginia readers were also left without copies of their local paper. "There were some streets you just couldn't get down," he said. An additional 4,000 copies of the Friday Times-Dispatch were published for distribution at shelters and other emergency locations.

An unspecified number of subscribers to The Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk, daily circulation 195,000, also experienced delivery delays Friday. "It's a matter of carriers not being able to make it to different locations," said Gazelle Williams, Virginian-Pilot call-center manager. "We've already notified all the radio and TV stations to tell them that people will be receiving their papers through the afternoon."

In North Carolina, similar situations were reported for coastal papers. At the Star-News, 55,000 daily circulation, in Wilmington, about 20% of the paper's 255 employees could not get to work because of power outages or other hurricane-related problems at their homes, according to Publisher Ken Svanum. The paper also moved up its press run deadline to 9:30 p.m. Wednesday from the usual 11:30 p.m. time so that papers could be printed and distributed before the storm hit. "We used generators during some power outages, but got the paper out both days [Thursday and Friday]," he said. "We also rented additional back-up generators."

Farther up the coast in Jacksonville, N.C., The Daily News was able to publish, but most of its non-newsroom employees stayed home, said Elliott Potter, associate publisher and executive editor of the 23,000-circulation paper. "We lost power for about two hours Thursday afternoon, but we were online and able to get the paper out," he said.

In a note on its Web site, The Washington Post said Friday's editions were delayed because of a power outage at its Springfield, Va., printing plant and electrical problems at its College Park, Md., facility. "As of 10:45 a.m., newspapers had been delivered to more than 90 percent of home delivery subscribers in the Greater Washington area," the notice said. "Papers will continue to be delivered to subscribers and retail outlets during the day. In some areas, the Friday paper will be delivered with the Saturday edition."