'Times-Picayune' Staying Put, But Delays Print Delivery

By: Joe Strupp The Times-Picayune of New Orleans has managed to stay in its home building throughout the Hurricane Gustav emergency, unlike three years ago when it had to evacuate after Hurricane Katrina and missed three days of print publication.

But the paper, which has not delivered a print edition to readers since Saturday, is still having to adjust production and boost coverage.

Dan Shea, managing editor/news, said the paper printed its regular Sunday edition ? complete with a New Orleans Saints special preview section ? on Saturday morning and distributed it to readers later that day just as the evacuation of the city began.

?I think people were really happy to get the Sunday paper early because they could take it with them,? Shea said.

Monday?s paper was printed by 9 p.m. Sunday, but remains in storage for later distribution once the winds subside and readers return. About 95% of the city has evacuated.

?We printed the whole run and stored it in our warehouse with the idea that the storm wouldn?t be as bad and we could get it out when the carriers return,? Shea told E&P. ?The storm is far-less dangerous to New Orleans than we feared.?

Shea, Editor Jim Amoss and several other staffers did distribute some 400 copies of the Monday paper Sunday night to those remaining in the city, including emergency personnel and media outlets.

?No one?s home anyway,? Shea said about the decision to hold back distribution to all readers. ?Presumably, we will still have power and if we do we will print a full edition [for Tuesday] and deliver it as soon as we can.?

Shea said some 120 Times-Picayune staffers were at the paper?s home location Sunday evening, with more than half remaining through the night to blog and cover the story for the Web site. He said the Web site had 3 million page views on Sunday, triple the usual.

The paper has been posting a free PDF version of the daily print paper online regularly since Saturday and plans to do the same for the Tuesday paper.

Shea, who lives in neighboring Old Metarie, said he chose to keep his family at home and has yet to lose power. ?A lot of people are probably regretting leaving because in a few hours it will be fine here,? he said via cell phone from his home. ?But you can?t blame people for being careful.?

Amoss agreed: ?The differences from three years ago are that it is not as powerful a storm and it is tracking to the west. We are so much better prepared and responding nimbly to all of the possibilities.?

Amoss, whose staff won two Pulitzer Prizes for its Katrina coverage added that ?we have as full a crew as you could possibly want and we were posting things throughout the night and have power throughout the building.?

When asked if the national media was hyping the storm too much, he said the fact that most of the city has evacuated makes it a major story, but adds: ?it is not living up to the billing. Perhaps they need to adjust their decibel level.?