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Tuesday, June 14, 2016

ICYMI: How The Orlando Sentinel Covered Massacre


Forty-nine people were shot dead after a gunman wielding an assault-type rifle and a handgun opened fire inside a crowded gay nightclub in Orlando in the early hours of Sunday after pledging allegiance to ISIS. Late on Monday night, the last of the 49 victims was officially identified by the city of Orlando on its website. Pictured: Top row (L-R): Edward Sotomayor Jr., Stanley Almodovar III, Luis Omar Ocasio-Capo, Juan Ramon Guerroro, Eric Ivan Ortiz-Rivera, Peter O. Gonzalez-Cruz, Luis S. Vielma. Second row (L-R): Kimberly Morris, Eddie Jamoldroy Justice, Darryl Roman Burt II, Deonka Deidra Drayton, Alejandro Barrios Martinez, Anthony Luis Laureano Disla, Jean Carlos Mendez Perez. Third row (L-R): Franky Velazquez, Amanda Alvear, Martin Torres, Luis Wilson-Leon, Mercedez Flores, Xavier Serrano Rosado, Gilberto Menendez. Fourth row (L-R): Simon Fernandez, Oscar Aracena-Montero, Enrique Rios Jr., Miguel Honorato, Javier Jorge-Reyes, Joel Paniagua, Jason Josaphat. Fifth row (L-R): Cory Connell, Juan Velazquez, Luis Conde, Shane Tomlinson, Juan Chevez-Martinez, Jerald Wright, Leroy Fernandez. Sixth row (L-R): Tevin Crosby, Jonathan Vega, Jean Rodriguez, Rodolfo Ayala-Ayala, Brenda McCool, Yilmary Sulivan, Christopher Leinonen. Seventh row (L-R): Angel Candelario-Padro, Frank Hernandez, Paul Henry, Antonio Brown, Christopher Sanfeliz, Akyra Murray, Geraldo Ortiz-Jimenez.

At its peak, the Orlando Sentinel had more than 350 journalists in the newsroom. On Sunday, as it ramped up to cover the nation's deadliest mass shooting, it had about 100. The Tribune Publishing paper still has the largest news organization in Orlando.

The Sentinel isn't new to big, breaking stories, either. Journalists here have covered shuttle explosions, hurricanes, the Casey Anthony trial, the death of Trayvon Martin and the trial of George Zimmerman.

But those stories were covered by a much bigger newsroom.

Sunday's news wasn't just a tragedy for the community but a test for the newsroom to see if it was possible to do good journalism without nearly as many good journalists.

Kristen Hare of Poynter.org picks up the story, Click Here.

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