At the annual Knight Media Forum, BPR News Director Laura Lee shared about the team's work during and after Hurricane Helene, the worst natural disaster in North Carolina history.
As a panelist on “When Local News is a Lifeline: Lessons from North Carolina in Disaster Preparation and Response," Lee shared how the team pivoted to provide critical information on basic resources to the community.
The panel, moderated by NC Local's Shannan Bowen, featured news and information providers from North Carolina following Hurricane Helene. Session conversation included ways to respond to crucial needs, how to prepare for disaster reporting, and the way a collaborative hub model supported efforts.
The Knight Media Forum focused on how funders can collaborate to strengthen local news efforts.
We sat down with Lee to ask her a few questions about the panel and what she's learned about covering a natural disaster.
What key takeaways did you share at the Knight Media Forum about BPR’s response to Hurricane Helene?
While the storm felt like a very unique experience for our team, one of the main takeaways I shared focused on how, in many ways, this was not an exceptional experience.
Other newsrooms — and funders — need to prepare for natural disasters in their areas. We learned lessons from other newsrooms that covered fires and hurricanes. We benefitted from the assistance of journalists who had lived through and covered natural disasters.
One of my hopes is that our industry develops an understanding that these events will continue to occur, and we need to share documented best practices for this work.
How did BPR prepare for disaster reporting ahead of the storm, and what lessons did you learn from that experience?
At the forum, I spoke about how I had an emergency plan. Early in my time at BPR, I created the plan, modeling it on plans shared with me by other news directors in the state.
When I was writing it, I was thinking first and foremost about an emergency scenario that newsrooms in America face every day: gun violence.
When the storm hit, I quickly realized that while our plan had some severe weather elements, there were many contingencies I had not considered.
In the first few days after the storm, I also realized that because our staff was living through the situation we were covering, my duties expanded to include tasks outside our norm.
For our team to be able to cover the storm and keep communities informed, they needed their basic needs addressed. Because we were working around the clock, I now needed to make sure we had adequate food and water at the station. With no running water, it also meant figuring out where reporters could use the restroom or take showers.
The storm experience also reinforced our commitment to taking care of each other. Every morning, we would share what we intended to do for "self care" that day. Sometimes it was as simple as taking a quick walk around the block. At the evening meeting, we would share if we were able to follow through with our plan. The collective accountability helped us prioritize taking care of ourselves in difficult circumstances.
We also started a practice of sharing "joy spots" on our shared Teams channel. We actively looked for bright moments in these dark days and shared them with each other as a way to keep our spirits up.
Can you elaborate on the collaborative hub model mentioned in the panel? How did it support BPR’s efforts during and after the storm?
We were incredibly fortunate to have the support of the NC Local News Workshop during the storm. Director Shannan Bowen immediately jumped in and offered to help us in any way we needed.
The Workshop provided assistance on reporting, providing freelance support for several aspects of coverage. They also connected us with other partners, including Blue Lena and Melody Kramer, who enabled us to quickly build a text-only version of our website. The text-lite site allowed residents with limited cell and wifi service to access critical information.
The workshop also provided invaluable help with fielding community inquiries. We received so many emails and voicemails in the weeks after the storm, and staff hired by the workshop helped us manage those inboxes and provide quick responses.
They also helped in practical ways such as connecting us with a crisis counselor who offered free services to our staff. We referred to Shannan as our fairy godmother during the storm — whatever need we had, she met.
Looking ahead, how is BPR adapting its disaster response strategy based on what worked (or didn’t) during Hurricane Helene? How can others support this work?
There is still tremendous work to be done. At the forum, I reminded the audience that the people doing this work in the long road of recovery are the same people who have been doing this work since the storm hit. Burnout is real, and we need to make sure we can maintain the capacity required to keep the steady flow of information to our communities.
We also need to continue to do accountability reporting to assess what happened and who was responsible.
For the next disaster — wherever it strikes — I hope that we can work with colleagues across the country to develop playbooks and infrastructure to share what we have learned from prior events. We don't need to reinvent the wheel every time disaster strikes.
Like many other newsrooms, we continue to need financial support to make these efforts possible. We are so grateful for all the support the community provided during the aftermath and continues to provide in the recovery.
