Planning
May04200808:16 AM
Each May in the last two years there's been a rally
and march for immigrants' rights in Yakima. Thousands
of marchers, walking through downtown Yakima, showed
up for those rallies which prompted heavy coverage by
the Herald-Republic. This year, however, was
different. The national conversation about immigrants
and immigrants' rights had died down, superseded by
talk of the economy, gas prices and the presidential
election. Also, there was a different organizer for
the march and there appeared to be very little
advance planning for the march. So, the march itself
was a guess by the editors. How many people would be
there? A thousand? A hundred? Would there be any
counter-protesters? What level of coverage was
appropriate given that the immigration debate had
been placed on the back burner?
Should it be page 1? Or should the march coverage be placed on our Homefront section? Initially, it was decided to put the rally coverage on our Homefront section because editors figured there wasn't the same interest as in years past. But on the morning of the afternoon rally, the decision was made to place the coverage on page 1 and to focus the story on the apparent cooling of the immigrant rights debate. Figuring more is better than less, two reporters and three photographers were assigned to coverage. Staff photographer Andy Sawyer shot video (see video) while photographer Kris Holland shot stills. I also shot stills but only for the first few minutes of the march so I could post a photo on www.yakimaherald.com while the march was going on to give up-to-the minute coverage.
As it turned out there were only a few hundred marchers and the protesters were few and stayed several blocks away from the march.
Despite the lack of information for more informed planning I think our our treatment was appropriate given the visibility of the marchers (several streets were blocked off for the parade) and the importance of immigration in our circulation area. Still, it's always better to have as much information as possible when planning event coverage.
Should it be page 1? Or should the march coverage be placed on our Homefront section? Initially, it was decided to put the rally coverage on our Homefront section because editors figured there wasn't the same interest as in years past. But on the morning of the afternoon rally, the decision was made to place the coverage on page 1 and to focus the story on the apparent cooling of the immigrant rights debate. Figuring more is better than less, two reporters and three photographers were assigned to coverage. Staff photographer Andy Sawyer shot video (see video) while photographer Kris Holland shot stills. I also shot stills but only for the first few minutes of the march so I could post a photo on www.yakimaherald.com while the march was going on to give up-to-the minute coverage.
As it turned out there were only a few hundred marchers and the protesters were few and stayed several blocks away from the march.
Despite the lack of information for more informed planning I think our our treatment was appropriate given the visibility of the marchers (several streets were blocked off for the parade) and the importance of immigration in our circulation area. Still, it's always better to have as much information as possible when planning event coverage.