View all newsletters
Sign up for our free email newsletters

Fighting for quality news media in the digital age.

  1. Archive content
September 20, 2001updated 17 May 2007 11:30am

Journalists beat obstacles to reach US disaster zones

By Press Gazette

 Journalists and crews from the BBC and ITN spent three days waiting for a chartered flight to leave Stansted Airport, while colleagues both overseas and in the United States struggled to reach Washington and New York when the transport system ground to a halt.

Faced with a 1,800-mile journey from Nicaragua, Stephen Sackur, the BBC’s Washington correspondent  decided that the airports would be closed "for a long time" and, with cameraman Harry Shoffner and producer Karina Rozenstals, took a flight to Monterrey in Mexico. By the following morning they had crossed the border and reached San Antonio where they managed to hire a van at the airport.

"We drove to Houston, and then picked out cities along the way, hoping that one would be open, but all of them were completely shut up," said Sackur.  When he arrived in Washington, Sackur was immediately on duty.

"I just had time to get back to have a shower and change," he said. "I don’t think I’ve been looking my best."

ITN’s Europe correspondent, Bill Neely, was in Calais reporting on the refugee crisis and took a holiday charter to the Dominican Republic, flying to Venezuela and Miami before arriving in New York on Friday.

"I never thought that it would take me four days," said Neely.

Content from our partners
MHP Group's 30 To Watch awards for young journalists open for entries
How PA Media is helping newspapers make the digital transition
Publishing on the open web is broken, how generative AI could help fix it

"It’s such a huge story it’s good to be involved even five days after the event.

"It’s helped me understand the scale of it, because even now when you go there you can still smell the fire and feel the dust and breathe the smoke, and the figure of 5,000 people really comes home." lNews of the World American editor Stuart White was in Los Angeles when the World Trade Center was hit, and drove across the US with Martin Grimes of the LA-based Splash agency to get to New York.

White spent the two days on the road, gathering copy along the way and crossing the New York state line late on Friday. He filed his first account at 2:43am Saturday morning.

It had taken him 56 hours to drive from LA to New York and file his report from the scene. He covered 2,819 miles by car – but had to walk the last six miles through Manhattan because vehicles were banned.

By Julie Tomlin

Email pged@pressgazette.co.uk to point out mistakes, provide story tips or send in a letter for publication on our "Letters Page" blog

Select and enter your email address Weekly insight into the big strategic issues affecting the future of the news industry. Essential reading for media leaders every Thursday. Your morning brew of news about the world of news from Press Gazette and elsewhere in the media. Sent at around 10am UK time. Our weekly does of strategic insight about the future of news media aimed at US readers. A fortnightly update from the front-line of news and advertising. Aimed at marketers and those involved in the advertising industry.
  • Business owner/co-owner
  • CEO
  • COO
  • CFO
  • CTO
  • Chairperson
  • Non-Exec Director
  • Other C-Suite
  • Managing Director
  • President/Partner
  • Senior Executive/SVP or Corporate VP or equivalent
  • Director or equivalent
  • Group or Senior Manager
  • Head of Department/Function
  • Manager
  • Non-manager
  • Retired
  • Other
Visit our privacy Policy for more information about our services, how New Statesman Media Group may use, process and share your personal data, including information on your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications.
Thank you

Thanks for subscribing.

Websites in our network