Some local news outlets are losing physical newsrooms
When the Covid-19 pandemic normalized remote work, a second trend caught on: shutting down physical newsrooms.
A report from Northwestern University’s Local News Initiative, published Tuesday, looks at the cultural losses that news outlets face when their staff stops working together under one roof. Here’s LNI contributor and Columbia College Chicago journalism professor Jackie Spinner:
As pandemic-era safeguards that necessitated working from home waned, some have championed the technological advances that allow many journalists to report, edit and publish from basically anywhere with stable Internet access. But the cost savings from a smaller or nonexistent physical presence isn’t the only consideration. Less clear-cut is the impact on the elements of journalism that never appear on budgets, such as the training absorbed from looking over someone’s shoulder or the institutional knowledge gained and passed by working in proximity to others over time.
During the pandemic, several news outlets downsized their offices — from city high-rises to co-working spaces — due to financial constraints and new hybrid work schedules.
On Tuesday, I spent time looking for the local news outlets that have foregone or reduced office space and opted for primarily remote work in recent years. Here are some:
- The Toledo Blade (Ohio) — owned by Block Communications. (Block has said it will sell or close The Blade by the end of the year.)
- The New York Daily News (New York) — owned by Tribune Publishing at the time; Alden acquired Tribune in 2021.
- Orlando Sentinel (Florida) — owned by Tribune Publishing at the time; Alden acquired Tribune in 2021.
- The Morning Call (Pennsylvania) — owned by Tribune Publishing; Alden acquired Tribune in 2021.
- Capital Gazette (Maryland) — owned by Tribune Publishing; Alden acquired Tribune in 2021.
- Carroll County Times (Maryland) — owned by Tribune Publishing; Alden acquired Tribune in 2021.
- The Patriot Ledger (Massachusetts) — owned by USA Today Co.
- The Enterprise (Massachusetts) — owned by USA Today Co.
- Milford Daily News (Massachusetts) — owned by USA Today Co.
- MetroWest Daily News (Massachusetts) — owned by USA Today Co.
- The Herald News (Massachusetts) — owned by USA Today Co.
- Taunton Daily Gazette (Massachusetts) — owned by USA Today Co.
- McDonough County Voice (Illinois) — owned by USA Today Co.
- The Hartford Courant (Connecticut) — owned by Alden Global Capital
Are there any I’m missing? Let me know. And read the full piece here.
Related Knowledge Center: State of the business model
The traditional journalism business model has long since collapsed, and news organizations have shrunk or disappeared entirely. While a number of promising experiments are under way, the public has not shown a willingness to buy what news organizations are selling.
Related Knowledge Center: Inside the newsroom
As newsrooms struggle with rickety business models and precarious finances — as well as new technologies — they are deploying an array of editorial responses.
The Times and its critics | Washington Post mortem
Related Knowledge Center: Local media
The hollowing out of the local news ecosystem has been well documented; in some communities, efforts are underway to reverse the growing news desert.