About the Story: What distinguishes this report is not razzle-dazzle production, live shots or exclusive video, but its calm and comprehensive approach to tracking a storm. In Rob Fowler's update, we see exactly where Bonnie is-and isn't.

Behind the Story: Storm tracking is important to Charleston, a community that suffered serious damage from Hurricane Hugo in 1989. News and weather people who work in hurricane territory face special challenges. Hurricanes don't simply arrive, they evolve. Coverage starts as a watch on a distant storm. There may be a 10-day span between its first stirrings miles away and its landfall. It may hit your town, veer off en route, or dissipate. Winning the big weather story is every station's goal-but the desire to win can lead stations to emphasize fear instead of facts. Denise Vickers, news director of WCBD during the Bonnie watch, says, "A hurricane is dramatic enough. You don't have to add to it. To give a false sense of drama is irresponsible." To keep its coverage on track when a hurricane approaches, the station has a written plan. "Our storm plan is 40 to 50 pages deep," says general manager Bill Evans. "It outlines what we do seven days out from the storm, five days out from the storm, one day out." The plan is updated after every storm, based on lessons learned. The plan provides for technical redundancy: backup systems to keep the station on the air, portable generators, and alternate sites from which to broadcast in case the station is in the path of the storm. It includes a contingency call-up of employees from other Media General stations around the country to assist WCBD, should coverage expand to round-the-clock.

Beyond the Story: Vickers is now the news director at KIVI in Boise, Idaho. She's no longer in the path of hurricanes but remains a strong believer in developing a breaking news strategy well before the news breaks. "Have a master plan," says Vickers, "Have ethical discussions with your staff early and often about responsible coverage. In the thick of it all, think clearly." WCBD won a duPont-Columbia award for its coverage of Hugo. Its hurricane coverage then and now is distinguished by off-air planning and on-air delivery of help, not hype. What are the keys to this effort?

• The chief meteorologist is empowered. At WCBD, Rob Fowler tells the station when it is time to go into hurricane mode. His is the first and final word. When he calls a station briefing, he knows veteran general manager Bill Evans will be there to listen and to roll out the station's plan.
  
  
• The station is sensitive to tone. Rob Fowler's storm tracking report will generally lead the newscast when a storm starts to develop. "I'm low-key but informational. People can tell if weather coverage is overdone," he says. "I was here for Hugo. Knowing me, viewers can look in my eyes and kind of tell."
  
  
• The entire station cooperates. When a hurricane tracking turns into hurricane coverage, other departments rally around the newsroom. Sales department staffers swing into action as cooks. Hurricanes close most businesses. There's no fast food available for workers, so WCBD keeps a large freezer of food on site. Traffic department employees move into the newsroom to answer phones, freeing the news staff to focus on coverage.
  
  
• The station shows concern for employees' well being. Charleston is market 120. Many in the newsroom are young, some in their first news jobs. When hurricanes approached, news director Vickers felt it was important to remind them, "This is not about standing in the face of high winds doing a standup that looks great on a resume tape. This is about responsible coverage." When Hurricane Floyd bore down on Charleston in the summer of 1999, Vickers took calls from parents and spouses of some of her employees, asking her not to make them work the storm. "I knew our GM would not keep us there when there was danger," she says, but she still allowed three concerned employees to go home.