Getting to Haiti is the big first step

When disasters such as the Haiti earthquake occur, some resourceful journalists manage to get there, some don't. I'm told that L.A. Times photographer Carolyn Cole was packing in her Brooklyn apartment within fifteen minutes of the first quake bulletin. With Haiti's airports closed, she headed for Santo Domingo and landed at 1:30 a.m. Tuesday. She hired a car and driver for the five-hour trip to the Haiti border, but when the border opened at 8 a.m the car wasn't allowed in. From an LAT editor:

So she introduced herself to four people in another car who were going to Port au Prince. A woman in that car had only hours earlier learned that her mother was among the quake victims. Cole arrived in Port-au-Prince at 10 am and began her coverage.

Today she hired a motorcycle, driver and translator and together, the three of them are traversing the area for news pictures.

After my post this afternoon about Cole and Rick Loomis getting in, I got an update on the Times reporters who are there from Foreign Editor Bruce Wallace.

Tina Susman, our former Baghdad bureau chief now based in NYC, was among the first outside reporters to arrive yesterday, flying in on the first flight Wednesday from Santo Domingo. She was followed just hours later by Joe Mozingo, who came from Los Angeles. And they were joined this morning by Mexico City bureau chief Tracy Wilkinson who drove in overland from the Dominican Republic.

Under extremely difficult conditions, they have been filing for the latimes.com website and for the newspaper, giving readers two wonderful stories this morning with more to come in the days ahead. It is a reminder that the LA Times still has the drive and the resources to lead on major stories, and that our readers are treated to high-quality coverage unsurpassed elsewhere.

Note: The Times' photo galleries are now showing dead bodies by the dozens, with a warning to viewers: GALLERY CONTAINS GRAPHIC CONTENT.

Photo: Los Angeles Times / Rick Loomis