Do You Really Need a Brick and Mortar Newsroom?

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Digidave on February 1, 2008 at 1:30pm

I don't think it NEEDS to be a brick and mortar shop. But it should be.

However - it shouldn't be closed off. The next newsroom should be like the campus library - or if it's cool - a coffee shop.

Students should come into the newsroom to find out what's going on. The student reporters should be resources - and there should be a computer kiosk to find out what's going on.

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Leonard Witt on February 1, 2008 at 1:58pm

Hi David:
Two points:

1. I like your idea. I visited High Point University recently, which I graduated from a million years ago, and in the student center they had integrated the workout room, a Starbucks, lounge areas, even a basketball court and running track all in the same area. To throw in a newsroom hub in the middle of that would be a really smart idea. I will post some photos.

2. I guess my greater question is how much of the newsroom will be virtual and how much physical space? Other than to socialize, why would I need a physical space?

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Megan Taylor on February 1, 2008 at 2:23pm

I spent some time last semester thinking about a completely virtual newsroom. See the results here and here.

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Beth Lawton on February 1, 2008 at 3:09pm

I know with all the technology available on a well-equipped college campus and students' relentless use of cell phones, laptops, etc., I guess it isn't really necessary per se to have a physical space -- maybe somewhere to store the servers and the printing press, if that's not being outsourced, anyway. Maybe a place to store the physical archives of the paper.

Rgardless, I think the alternate question might be not does it "need" to be a brick-and-mortar newsroom, but rather "Is it beneficial to have a brick-and-mortar newsroom?" To which the answer, I think, is yes.

The energy and excitement around breaking news and the spirit of teamwork around news projects is hard to replicate when there's no physical central place to share it. There's a limit to positive-energy conveyance via exclamation points -- even when you use more than one exclamation point. (!!!)

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Erin Ehsani on February 1, 2008 at 3:37pm

My university newsroom was the hub of communication. The student journalists became the spokes to the university and greater community. We completed less actual work in the newsroom, but instead used the space to connect, incubate, and react. It was a journalist safe zone and place of exchange - the mother ship. Moreover, it became a place other students and university staff sought in times of dissent or to spread good news.

I vote that the newsroom of the future is a hybrid brick and mortar/virtual operation. As a freelancer, I relish the opportunity to connect with peers - even if I need to disappear into a cave or coffee shop to write. But I agree the doors should be open to the community, or that journalists should insert themselves wherever there's community. That's our audience. That's our purpose. That's where the news is.

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Chris O'Brien on February 14, 2008 at 1:48pm

Hey all...Some great thoughts here. I posted some highlights of this thread, and my own thoughts, over at the PBS Idealab blog. Check it out here.

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Jason Greenwald on February 24, 2008 at 3:54pm

I'd like to share a few thoughts informed by my own experience as a Chronicle editor in the early 1990s, as well as my current work in the related, albeit different, world of public relations.

While much of today's work takes place in a manner that is virtual, and while students are clearly at the forefront of this trend, there is little question in my mind of the value of a brick-and-mortar newsroom. I say this based on two factors: the first is that, as others have commented, there is real value in the camaraderie and synergy that develop in a real place. All of us grumpy old editors have fond memories of spending hours in the Chronicle lounge, or hanging out in the production room with Rolly, or talking sports in the hallways. Those experiences are a meaningful part of what it is to be a student-journalist, and they help to take the edge off insane hours and sometimes-excruciating hard work.

The second part of this is that there is just much better collaborativee work that can be done in person. I've seen this in professional projects time and time again -- you can gather only so much nuance from a conference call; there are ways you can work together in person that are hard to quantify but can be very important. For news, this probably comes in more in the editing stage, but especially with young reporters, it's essential for them to have the opportunity to learn by osmosis, too.

Finally, on a lighter note, what would be the value of a virtual editor's couch? And who would bring bagels to a virtual ed-board meeting?

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Ed MacBean on March 3, 2008 at 2:46pm

I think there is a bigger question at hand, which is what should be the function of the "newsroom" and its "staff."

Technology has made it so that pretty much anyone can create and publish content - youtube, blogs, etc.... and all of these are to some degree threatening to the traditional 'newspaper business.' In many cases, their openness gives them tremendous advantage in capturing the news because "they" are everywhere whereas official news staff can not possibly be in all places. The downside is that it can be hard to know what to trust from these sources - are they objective or is this person intentionally misrepresent facts for some personal mission, or perhaps just unskilled at effective reporting.

However, what newspapers have done that these other sources generally do not is to validate the truth of stories, offer higher quality of writing, and generally offer a trusted and objective or at least balanced presentation of the news. (Some may be better at this than others, and some seem to have abandoned the practice altogether, but that is still generally true, I think). Perhaps the 'value' of the newsroom is that they validate and authenticate, correct/improve writing, aggregate alternate views, and then publish it, with less "sourcing" of the news themselves. With an effective definition a role for the newspaper that differentiates themselves. i think that it will become clearer if a brick and mortar newsroom is needed and even how it might be structured or staffed. (I also think a corollary question that might influence this is will newspapers continue to 'print' the newspaper or will they only publish it electronically, but that is probably an entire thread on its own. )

▶ Reply to This