Logistics were tough in immigration raid

Agriprocessors workers are led away following a federal raid in Postville.

By Andrew Nostvick, Wartburg College

There a lot of bases to cover when a big story like the Agriprocessors immigration raid in Postville breaks, KCRG News Director Becky Lutgen Gardner said.

Close to 400 people from the northeast Iowa packing plant were detained in a May raid for numerous charges including illegal immigration. The cases are still in progress.

“You need to cover the town of Postville and how it's affected by this, the actual story of the meat packing plant, and you also have to go and follow the folks through the system, where they're being held as well as how they're going through the court systems,” Lutgen Gardner said.

All the angles
A lot of commitment and staffing is needed to cover a story as significant story as an immigration raid.

“You're doing the town’s impact, you're doing Agriprocessors, you're doing your whole Waterloo thing at the Cattle Congress, where they kept people,” Lutgen Gardner said

The story broke after tips came into northeast Iowa newsrooms on May 12 about government officials showing up at the Postville plant.

“As the day went on, we ramped up our coverage once we realized how big it truly was,” said KWWL News Director Jon Okerstrom.

“How do we get enough resources into position quickly enough to cover it the way we want to cover it,” Okerstrom said.

Crews dispatched
KWWL Assignment Manager Jason Mortvedt said KWWL had at least two news crews each at the Cattle Congress grounds in Waterloo and in Postville. Reporters from the Dubuque newsroom were able to get on the scene in Postville.

The crews rotated everyday, using live satellite trucks in Postville and microwave trucks in Waterloo.

KWWL also had a helicopter from WHO available for assistance.

“We were able to get some good aerial footage of them (the detainees) being shackled and being led into their court appearance in Waterloo,” Mortvedt said.