Powerless 'Times-Picayune' Still Reporting -- Not Delivering

By: Joe Strupp The Times-Picayune of New Orleans has not delivered a print newspaper since Saturday, and has been without power since Monday morning, according to Dan Shea, managing editor/news. But despite those limits the staff remains in the paper's main building, working with a generator and essentially producing a full edition for its Web site.

"We lost power at about 9:30 a.m. [Monday] and we continued," Shea told E&P Tuesday morning. "We worked there all day, we probably had 50 people there and another 50 out in the field."

During a weekend that saw 95% of New Orleans evacuate to prepare for Hurricane Gustav, the Times-Picayune also launched into storm preparation mode, printing and delivering its Sunday paper on Saturday and running presses early Sunday evening for its Monday edition.

But, because of a lack of couriers and continued storm activity, the Monday paper has yet to be delivered. Tuesday's edition, written and laid out on computer, has yet to be printed due to the power outages. Shea said if power is not restored by this afternoon, the paper will look for an alternate site, perhaps its sister daily, The Press-Register in Mobile, Ala.

"About 70% of our metro area is without power," Shea said from his home, which is utilizing an emergency generator. "Hopefully, by Thursday, we will have power and people coming back for the paper."

Even without electricity, Shea says the Times-Picayune newsroom is working with an emergency generator, as well as air cards and cellular phones. "The big problem is there is no air conditioning in the building," Shea said, noting four staffers stayed at his home in nearby Old Metarie Monday night.

Although the generator has made working in the newsroom and photo labs possible, Shea said it cannot power the printing presses.

Three years ago, following Hurricane Katrina, the Times-Picayune could have used its generator, but was forced to evacuate due mostly to flooding, not lack of power.

Although Gustav has passed the city, Mayor Ray Nagin has urged most residents not to return until later in the week, meaning many would-be readers -- and couriers -- are still away.

Shea said the paper will continue to produce pages ready for printing and post them online as a PDF version of the print product until printing capabilities return or the paper finds an alternate print site. "People will want the paper when they come back," he said.