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Your Wednesday Poynter Report
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When you think of newsrooms, you think of editors scrambling to meetings, reporters rushing in and out to do interviews, and the sounds of phones ringing and fingers typing.
But newsrooms don’t look or sound like that at the moment. And they might never again.
These days, because of the coronavirus, most newsrooms are dining room tables and living room couches and spare bedrooms turned into local, one-person news bureaus.
As time has gone by, and journalists have become accustomed to working at home and still putting out an excellent product, a question has emerged:
Are newsrooms — the actual, physical offices — even needed anymore?
We will soon find out.
As I reported Tuesday, the McClatchy chain announced seven of its news outlets — including the Miami Herald/El Nuevo Herald, The Charlotte Observer and the chain’s Washington, D.C., bureau — are moving out of their buildings for the rest of the year as reporters work from home.
The plan, for now, is to find new spaces next year. But it’s hard to imagine that plan is set in stone. Don’t be shocked if those newsrooms never come back to big offices.
And don’t be surprised if other news organizations — especially newspapers — follow that lead.
Many papers already were downsizing before the coronavirus. Working from home has only proven journalists can do good work remotely.
Read more here: https://www.poynter.org/newsletters/2020/because-of-the-coronavirus-newsroom-offices-have-gone-away-theres-a-chance-that-many-will-never-return/
