LSM admits storm coverage failures as radio news chief resigns

Latvia’s public media organisation LSM has acknowledged that its radio coverage during the crisis caused by the storm was inadequate, and Latvian Radio News Service head Uģis Lībietis has decided to resign, LSM reported.

Ieva Aile, an LSM board member responsible for programme and service development, acknowledged mistakes in coordinating the response and in making decisions about changes to the Latvian Radio 1 schedule.

“On Sunday, radio was the only source of information for thousands of residents who expected much broader coverage of the current situation. We recognise this and apologise to every listener,” Aile said.

LSM’s crisis management group was convened promptly to assess the actions of all public media platforms during the storm. Despite communication disruptions that left some public media employees unable to communicate, LSM said it had mobilised additional staff relatively quickly and ensured broad distribution of current information across several platforms, including by involving colleagues who normally work in other content areas and regions.

The group concluded that communication and coordination between teams must be improved, along with proactive preparation for different scenarios. It also called for an agreed decision making procedure for situations in which an important link in the chain is unavailable, such as during communication disruptions.

Particular attention should be paid to the role of radio during crises, LSM said, because radio can become the only source of information available to residents in such circumstances.

LSM also said the scale of the storm’s consequences emerged gradually. This included the number of municipalities and residents who were left not only without electricity but also without communications. Information about power outages, followed later by the loss of communications, increased throughout the day, and there was initially no full picture of the storm’s overall impact across different regions of Latvia.

On Sunday, the Latvian Radio 1 programme Labrīt aired additional news bulletins every half-hour. The Latvian Television News Service also prepared two special emergency news broadcasts, at 12.30 and 15.00, with the latter also broadcast on Latvian Radio 1. From 16.00 to midnight, radio news was broadcast every half-hour.