Sister paper in Joplin in the eye of the storm

Eighteen staffers who work at the Joplin Globe lost their homes Sunday. Another eight sustained severe damage.

Many came into work Sunday night to put out the newspaper nonetheless.

Here's a first person account of surviving storm by Joplin reporter.

The Globe is owned by The Free Press parent company, CNHI, and I've had different conversations with the staff and editors there over the years.

They are now dealing with battles on two fronts: many have friends and family whose homes and families have been devastated by the tornado, but as always, they're dedicating to informing their readers at this very critical time.

They're no doubt working tirelessly around the clock. Here's their web site http://www.joplinglobe.com/

I can only imagine what they are going through. I remember when the St. Peter tornado hit in 1998, though Mankato was not damaged, we had staffers who lived in St. Peter.

Newsrooms, like other places, can get a bit chaotic during these times. Who's available to cover what? How do we split it up? How do we convince authorities to let us through? Is the equipment and machinery working?

It's a very difficult time when newspapers have to cover the disasters that affect their staff personally. But it's no surprise they rise to the occasion. We often see the need to inform the public at these times are paramount. People need to know what happened, and more importantly that help is on the way.

The newspaper gives them something that is familiar, and it is one of those times when the community is drawn together by ink and paper.

We suspect the folks at the Joplin Globe will leave bundles of papers on downtown corners where they can be picked up by anyone, subscriber or not.

We've offered our help in whatever ways might be needed. Our company executives have also started a fund for families.

We can only keep our colleagues and the folks in Joplin in our thoughts and prayers.