At the DI, the news keeps flowing

As the Iowa River rose, crested, and gradually receded, members of the University of Iowa community and Iowa City metro area hungered for the latest news.

The Daily Iowan, the University’s student-produced newspaper, wasn’t about to stop the presses, even though floodwaters forced these journalists and staff members from their state-of-the-art home.

More than two dozen people—full-time staff, their family members, and many students from the newsroom—worked painstakingly on Friday, June 13, to evacuate the DI office, located on the first floor of the Adler Journalism and Mass Communications Building. Much of this work had to be done in dark stairwells, as power was cut during the evacuation due to water encroaching the building’s basement.

“We started moving things right away that morning,” says Pete Recker, DI circulation manager. “At first we moved a lot of things off the floor, but as the morning went along we learned that we could have up to 10 feet of water on our floor. So, we began moving anything we could up to the second and third floors.

“We were moving some larger items on the elevator, but by our second trip up you could hear the water coming in the basement—the elevator was promptly shut down,” Recker continues. “The power was cut in the building a short time later. Everything was hauled up dark stairways until about 2:30 p.m.”

Recker estimates about 40 computers, 75 chairs, 25 to 30 filing cabinets were removed from the DI quarters, along with tables, all business files, the web server, and even a year’s worth of back issues—25 from each day.

“We even took down some light fixtures from above our copy desk,” Recker says.

Yet the paper continued to roll out. In fact, the Daily Iowan printed Saturday and Sunday issues on June 14 and 15; the publication typically comes out Monday through Friday.

The circulation and business staff moved to space within the Gazette’s Iowa City offices, which are located in University Capitol Centre. The newsroom staff set up shop in Schaeffer Hall. During the week of June 16–20, Recker says nearly 6,000 papers were printed each day, and he expects to ramp up to 10,500 soon, possibly by Friday, June 27.

“We are all working out of donated spaces, our homes, and through our cell phones right now,” Recker says. “It’s been a challenge, but we are an efficient staff and our communication has been great and allowed us to succeed through it all. And our delivery staff has done a great job through all of this.”

Some DI staff members were allowed back into the Adler building on Thursday, June 19, to retrieve a few things. “It looks like we won’t have any damage—we got lucky,” Recker says. “We can’t wait to get back in.”