by Mary-Kate Roan
Staff Writer
The room might be about the size of an average classroom, with a stage and podium on one side and a place for cameras and electronic equipment on the other side. Between them, there is open space for reporters to interview, with chairs along the side of the room. The reporters are on their cell phones, and they seem to be constantly updating the scheduling board with interview information. And they all have one reason for being there: Tropical Storm Fay.
Long hours, little sleep and the dangers of facing a storm head-on. That’s what awaits a reporter when a breaking story like Fay comes along.
“I was here for 14 hours on Wednesday,” said Jared Halpern of AM-690 radio on Thursday. “And I’ve been here since 4 a.m. today.”
With shows like “Jerry Springer” and “The Price is Right” on the television between interviews, there is little activity around the press room of the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC). It has the feel of being away at summer camp. Stories are shared, from personal stories to on-the-clock experiences, until the group becomes, as Denise Douglas of Ch. 47 says, “like a family.”
The reporters even share the interviews, trying to maintain order as they schedule their interviews around each other for different broadcast needs and demands from stations. Though the interviews are only minutes apart, they are meticulously timed to the minute.
The media is even treated to free meals while at the EOC. The food at lunch, consisting of sandwiches similar to a packed lunch to further add to the experience’s summer camp atmosphere, was provided by the City of Jacksonville and catered by Tidbits.
“We try to give the media food and keep them comfortable,” said Heather Webb, a senior writer for the City’s Public Information office. “After all, a hungry reporter is an angry reporter.”
Webb added that the City and the media work as a team during weather-related events, with the City providing the information and the media spreading the word to the public.
And it’s not just the reporters that have the long hours. The City employees have their own shifts to work if they are called to the EOC.
“We have staff that are activated to work at the EOC, with the mayor here as needed,” said Webb. “We work in shifts of 12 hours.”
As for the ones lucky enough to be at the EOC and not outside covering the storm, Ch. 4 cameraman Mike Rue said it was a decision on behalf of the assignment editors.
“We’re told where to go,” said Rue. “It’s not based on seniority or anything. We are just assigned to go somewhere.”
Activity picks up just before the scheduled press conference, with various people showing up right before it starts. The main group of media that had been at the EOC all day were joined by at least a dozen others from various news sources.
After the press conference, the group split up to go their separate ways: some get to go home, while others are off, looking for yet another storm-related story.
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