|
|
|
GateHouse journalists delivered up-to-the minute reports through print, Web and social media as Superstorm Sandy wreaked unprecedented destruction on the Eastern Seaboard the past two days.
Nicole Simmons, regional digital editor for GateHouse Media New England, pinned locations of storm shelters in Massachusetts on a Google map. The map received 850-plus views.
The Patriot Ledger in Quincy, Mass., just south of Boston, turned to the power of micro-blogging on Twitter.
“The goal was to make sure we didn't miss any big incidents and to drive readership to the Web,” said Chazy Dowaliby, executive editor of The Patriot Ledger and The Enterprise in Brockton, Mass. “We also thought we could reach more people on their PDAs, especially with thousands having lost power.
“Tweets were directed at the region, emergency responders and anyone affected by the storm who had info and stories to share. A live twitter feed ran on our home page. We hashtagged everything #entsandy.”
The Patriot Ledger also used Storify to cover the storm and garnered more than 700 views.
Ryan Williamson, digital manager for the Messenger Post in Canandaigua, NY, built a special hurricane section.
“I put promotions on all of our sites to push readers to this section,” Williamson said, “… which has a twitter widget on it feeding in #Sandy news as well as all of the AP content, local features and photo galleries of storm damage.
“We did have a ‘Big Package’ set up on MPNnow.com. We had a strong push on our Facebook pages and Twitter accounts as well.”
On the print side, newspapers produced strong copy, photos and front pages of the powerful storm and its aftermath.
And for a follow-up, The Enterprise reported on the doubled number of births at a local hospital attributed to a dramatic drop in the barometric pressure.
Below are links to some of the storm coverage in print and digital form produced by GateHouse news sites on the East Coast:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Scituate-Mariner/221500301258840
https://www.facebook.com/WickedLocalCohasset
https://www.facebook.com/marshfieldmariner
http://www.doverpost.com/article/20121026/NEWS/121029800/1001/NEWS
http://www.wickedlocal.com/marblehead/multimedia/videos
http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Cape-Codder/401735749853908?ref=hl
http://www.wickedlocal.com/capecod/news/x1272747672/Hurricane-Sandy-Resources#axzz2Ah9mFqtC
