Rob Curley posted a great dissection on his blog of how the Las Vegas Sun covered the fire at the Monte Carlo hotel which I think can become a template or roadmap for just about any newsroom with a major event, either hyper-local or a story that goes national.

When I finally got back to my computer at the Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive offices and saw how my buddies were covering the fire at the Monte Carlo hotel, my jaw nearly hit the ground. And every time I checked back, they continued to add layers and layers to their newspaper site’s coverage.

I paid particular attention to how the Sun’s coverage began with a live blog that was continuously updated with new layers, then came photos and vidoes and more reports from reporters at the scene.

 

I work in a newsroom similar to the Sun’s, maybe a bit bigger, that is adopting some of the

principles and or “buy in” and I know how hard it takes to get to a point where reporters and editors think online first.

 

Curly doesn’t mention anything about user generated content that was submitted to the Sun during the fire. With the Vegas strip likely full of tourists who may not know how to get content to the Sun, that may have been a challenge where asking about UGC is not really valid.