How The Star-Ledger’s relentless coverage of Sandy began online

As we plan to pay tribute to The Star-Ledger’s physical newspaper as it transitions to online-only, I’m having conversations with several editors at NJ Advance Media about the impact of our newsroom and The Star-Ledger’s newsroom – then and today – led. have impacted the lives of New Jerseyans.

Today I’m going to provide a very condensed summary of how The Star-Ledger and NJ.com covered Superstorm Sandy in 2012. Later, I will draw a line from Sandy to NJ Advance Media’s coverage of COVID-19, starting in early 2020.

If you were in the Garden State on the night of October 29, 2012, you braced yourself for the deadly blow of the oncoming storm that was heading straight for the coastal areas north of Atlantic City. We were still recovering from the devastation left by Tropical Storm Irene. Nobody believed it could be worse.

The Godzilla-sized headline on the front page said it all.

PUMPED

By the time Hurricane Sandy reached New Jersey, it had already transformed into a post-tropical cyclone, or superstorm. Regardless, no one will forget the indiscriminate and monstrous destruction.

On a normal day, 6:30pm usually meant it was time to pack everything up. That day was just the beginning of several long nights for employees in every newsroom. Reporters were sent to all corners of the state to get the story.

Hour after hour, the Star Ledger teams were the first on site. Reporters entered areas closed to the public, offering the first glimpse into the topsy-turvy state of our beloved state.

Reporters kept readers informed despite widespread communication problems. At around 9 p.m. on the first evening, there was a power outage in the newsroom at the Ledger’s old Newark building on Court Street.

Around the flashlights, reporters and editors typed on their laptops and saved in Gmail the dispatches accessed by reporters battling the treacherous weather. Social media editors searched Twitter and Facebook for tips and shared valuable and timely information with our readers.

The next day’s front page of The Star-Ledger read:

The final production and printing of this edition was delayed. It is delivered to meet reader demand. The contents of this edition were submitted on Monday and the newspaper’s editorial production was nearing completion when the power went out in our Newark office. All editorial and advertising content is from Monday.

Over the next 24 hours, the Ledger newsroom built a loose communications network that kept the paper flowing while we kept NJ.com updated with real-time information.

It was all hands on deck. Although I was a features editor at the time, I remember managing a team of two night shift reporters in the former NJ.com newsroom in Morristown. To tide us over, we brought bottles of water and snacks. Our job was to call public safety agencies across the state and search social media to file an online report before dawn so readers would be up to date before sunrise. On Tuesday evening, The Star-Ledger’s makeshift newsroom moved into a hotel lobby for the third time.

As one editor later noted, shoe leather met digital.

Sleepless and in danger for days, reporters, photographers and videographers braved piercing winds and dangerous waters to get the story.

To help readers most affected by the storm, we launched a live chat on NJ.com. A team of reporters and editors took turns around the clock to provide real-time answers to key questions. Readers asked where to turn for emergency shelter, fuel, food and supplies, how to deal with power outages and how to check on friends and family.

After the storm passed, we kept the chat going for a full week, providing readers managing damaged homes or businesses with information about where to find help and safe routes around flooded roads and downed trees, among other public services.

In total, we published 245 articles, 89 videos and 75 photo galleries on NJ.com this week. In its newspaper, The Star-Ledger created a special section dedicated to seven heroes, many of them first responders, written by reporters from every department.

By any measure, each staff member produced the best sustained reporting in the history of The Star-Ledger and, at the time, NJ.com.

That is, until March 9, 2020, when Gov. Phil Murphy declared a state of emergency in New Jersey to prepare and strengthen the Garden State for COVID-19. Our everyday lives have changed drastically in the coming years. The NJ Advance Media and Star-Ledger newsrooms, including myself and many other veteran journalists, have been with you every step of the way.

Did the Ledger or NJ.com help you as we recovered from Sandy’s devastation? I would love to hear from you if you have a story.

Find me at [email protected]. Star Ledger subscribers should also check your email inbox every Sunday for my weekly newsletter. For customer support, send an email [email protected] or call 888-782-7533.

Enrique Lavín is Editor of the online newspaper.