SPOKANE, Wash. — To our Inland Northwest Community,
Like all of you, our KREM 2 family is working diligently to keep up with the changing reality of our lives during this public health crisis. While the only certainty at this point is that we are in a constant state of change, we wanted to bring you up-to-date on how we are continuing to provide appropriate, fact-based coverage while keeping our team and community safe.
Journalism comes with a sense of responsibility that can carry a certain amount of risk at times. Prior to the COVID-19 (coronavirus) outbreak, we made decisions daily on how to best protect our staff members while covering potentially challenging stories. We try to make sure that any risk is mitigated with common sense and reasonable choices. This outbreak has made even some of the most benign tasks hard to accomplish. We have put parameters in place to ensure the safety of our team and the well-being of our community.
Here are some of the changes we have made that may have a visual impact on our broadcasts and digital content.
We have many of our employees working from home. Technology has made it possible for our producers, photographers, and reporters to work from home to minimize contact with each other and our in-station crew.
We also have a full staff of production specialists and engineers that are creating an off-site studio where we can broadcast in the event that we need to shut down our main facility for emergency cleaning. While the temporary studio will have a more ‘minimalist’ look we will be able to provide you factual, up-to-date information to keep you and your family informed.
Changes happening at KREM to help prevent the spread of coronavirus
Our reporters and photographers are working in the field with some new parameters. Crews will keep as much distance as possible during interviews. Equipment that’s used will be thoroughly cleaned and handled by as few people as possible. In many cases, we will do our on-camera interviews via computer based programs (Skype, WhatsApp, FaceTime).
We are cancelling any visitors or tours of the station right now until we can be assured by health authorities in our area that it is safe for gatherings again. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and hope to reschedule our studio tours again soon.
We know that by taking some of these steps, our overall look might change in the short term. That said, our team is working 24 hours, 7 days a week to bring you the most information possible on the novel coronavirus that has shut down much of the community.
With schools and businesses closed, grocery lines long, and families dealing with financial concerns, we want to be a resource for responsible information. We know that many of our friends, neighbors, and viewers are suffering and need to have information that is accurate and clear. While we share many of the same concerns as everyone, we know we need to serve our community.
Like our fellow journalists around the globe, we will work for you and with you during this challenging time. We felt it was necessary to show some of our ‘behind-the-scenes’ information and photos so that we can be transparent during this time of confusion.
The Inland Northwest isn’t just a community—it is our community. Please feel free to ask any questions about how we are gathering information and presenting it on-air. We know our responsibility to the public is great at this time and we are grateful for your trust.
--KREM 2 Staff