Miami Herald moving out of Doral offices...

...staff to work from home. Also DC office. Also Charlotte Observer.

I'm sure McClatchy will help employees with mortgages/rent.

 

Why does anyone need an office anymore?

 

"We are investing in people over place" is something newspapers, in my experience, never, ever do.

As an ME said once, as he denied a request from reporters to attend a statewide newspaper seminar, "You'll just learn something you can use at your next job."

Newspapers invest in new equipment, or in property. Never in their employees.

 

Yeah, right. This is strictly a cost-cutting effort. The company realized working remotely is now a viable option, and they can save a ton of money on rent for a large buidling.

This is good news for the Miami reporters because, for those who don't know, Doral is in western Miami-Dade County, and commuting there is an absolute nightmare, especially for people who live downtown and in Broward County, to the north.

I won't be surprised if this becomes the norm. And, if the Herald gets the new office, it'll be tiny, with plug-and-play desks for people who must work at the office.

 

I wouldn't want to work a newspaper job from home, though. There's nothing like the constant buzz of a good newsroom.

On top of that, you lose connections when the group dynamic is removed. Much like the connections between writers and editors were diminished when they weren't required to come into the office anymore on a daily basis. Who wouldn't jump at that chance, of course, but a lot of the fun went away when the writers weren't around to shoot the shit with anymore. A lot of productive conversations and interactions came along back in those days, too.

But there's no going back, at least for now. Everything is so different now anyway, and that's just one part of it.

 

I never thought working from home would be possible in my gig, at least not long-term. I really don't like it. But I have a feeling I might not see the inside of the newsroom again, either because this will be the new way of doing it or because of layoffs.

And the thought of never being in a newsroom again makes me sad.

 

Does this even newed to be collectively bargained? And, not every person can work from home, for a variety of reasons.

Oh, and asshole McClatchy.

 

I was working in a Media News Group bureau about three or four years ago and they were all set to have us work from home until someone figured out they needed a physical address in the city to sell legal ads, so we remained. By then, the bureau was down to me, a sales rep and an ad assistant.

 

I certainly don’t. Working from home is great. I like the flexibility.

 

The quicker you can adapt to working from home, the better off you'll be. There are a lot of reporters, especially freelancers, who work remotely. You'll be better off.