Monday, March 31, 2008

Daily offers strong coverage on Neosho storm damage

The Neosho Daily News has had ample opportunities to display its ability to offer blanket coverage of breaking news- last August's murders of the Micronesian church officials, the Rowan Ford murder case, and recent ice storms among other events.

Chalk up another big plus to Managing Editor John Ford, Publisher Rick Rogers, and the troops for their coverage of a possible tornado that left considerable damage in its wake earlier today.

The Daily has shown a far more effective use of its website during events like this than the Joplin Globe (and speaking of the Globe, if anyone had relied on the area's so-called newspaper of record, they would have had considerably less information, read almost none, about the storm damage).

The coverage included photos and bylined stories by Ford, Rogers, and reporter Todd Higdon.

Ford has a story that appears to be certain to be followed up- Sirens did not sound because no warning was issued:

“Normally, we do not sound the sirens unless there is a tornado warning issued by the weather service,” he said. “They issue a tornado warning any time there are winds over 70 miles an hour. They will generally issue a warning if they recognize rotation, even if they can’t see the tornado, but there are indications that a tornado is involved. Today was a little different thing all around. There was nothing different than we saw with any other storm coming through. We also sound the sirens based on information from qualified storm spotters. And we had storm spotters out during this storm.”


The Daily has shown a consistent ability to handle major events when they hit its coverage area. There are other holes in the newspaper's coverage, but when it comes to breaking events that consume readers' interest, the Daily has carved out a solid reputation over the last several months.

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