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Post by billhammond on Mar 20, 2015 11:33:30 GMT -5
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Post by david on Mar 20, 2015 19:08:46 GMT -5
Very snazzie Bill. I think I see the place for the next guitar gathering.
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Post by Village Idiot on Mar 20, 2015 20:17:38 GMT -5
Wow! I understand your earlier concerns about moving out of your historic site and all that, but man, you're moving into some pretty nice digs! You've got to be excited about that, and it looks like a fun place to work. I guess newsrooms have changed over the years.  |
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Post by billhammond on Mar 20, 2015 20:39:06 GMT -5
In 40 years of newspapering, the only CLEAN and modern newsroom I have ever stepped into was USA Today's flagship in Reston, Va., and I had so many problems with that company that the environs didn't even register as desirable.
But having worked in incredibly hostile work environments (everyone smoking, everyone shouting, mice, clutter like you cannot believe) at three papers, I can really appreciate new, clean, quiet and convenient. I'll be able to drive (or take a bus or light rail) to my office, park my car with a roof over its head, walk from the parking garage to work via skyways, and have the entire downtown grid walkable also via skyways. Food options are endless, as are all the up-and-moving lunch and coffee breaks.
Each workstation is also configured to make it a simple matter to switch between working in a seated or standing position, a huge deal for copy editors, who don't get to leave the building on assignments as reporters do and spend WAY too many hours sitting down.
It will be interesting to see how long it takes for the notorious newspaper grubs to pig up the joint, but I do believe there will be unprecedented pressure on them to clean up their acts.
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Post by TKennedy on Mar 20, 2015 20:41:14 GMT -5
Pretty nifty but the old one looked like it fit around your shoulders pretty nice. Score any of those vinyls?
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Post by Chesapeake on Mar 20, 2015 20:44:14 GMT -5
"Things will be different when we get into the new building."
- A mantra I heard still being repeated, but in an ironic vein, when I joined the Washington Evening Star five years after it moved from its downtown Pennsylvania Avenue location into Southeast D.C. It seemed a lot of the old problems didn't go away in the new digs, as some unrealistically thought they would.
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Post by billhammond on Mar 20, 2015 20:45:53 GMT -5
Pretty nifty but the old one looked like it fit around your shoulders pretty nice. Score any of those vinyls? Those records were totally news to me until yesterday! Our two pop/rock music critics get hundreds of CDs each a month, and their desks are the nastiest in the newsroom as a result, but I can only imagine what their work spaces would be like if they were stacked with LPs! |
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Post by billhammond on Mar 20, 2015 20:53:02 GMT -5
"Things will be different when we get into the new building." - A mantra I heard still being repeated, but in an ironic vein, when I joined the Washington Evening Star five years after it moved from its downtown Pennsylvania Avenue location into Southeast D.C. It seemed a lot of the old problems didn't go away in the new digs, as some unrealistically thought they would. Except in our case, our problems -- shitty owners, bankruptcy, etc., etc. -- are for the time being behind us. We have a new owner, who is local and has deep pockets and by all indications wants nothing more than to keep us going, circulation is up, we have always been ahead of the curve on digital media and now we have even more tools to push that agenda. Sure, the newspaper as we know it, even in favorable situations such as ours, may be a dying entity, but for now, I am confident that I can close out my career in the next few years on an upbeat note in an uplifting setting. |
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Post by drlj on Mar 20, 2015 21:03:04 GMT -5
Do you guys still get to wear newspaper hats?
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Post by billhammond on Mar 20, 2015 21:13:14 GMT -5
Do you guys still get to wear newspaper hats? Hey, I'm not changing MY wardrobe!  |
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Post by Village Idiot on Mar 20, 2015 21:15:12 GMT -5
The only newsroom experience I have is having taking Braille School kids on a tour of a local news station. They knew we were coming, and I was quite surprised at what a dump it was. Not just papers laying around in piles, which one might expect, but pizza boxes and empty pop cans and unwashed coffee cups and all that kind of stuff. I figured that must be some sort of newsroom tradition.
That aside, I don't see you folks as a dying entity, but an entity under metamorphosis. It'll always be around in some form, because people need to get their news from somewhere.
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Post by factorychef on Mar 21, 2015 5:37:14 GMT -5
Sort of like your 3rd floor office Todd.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 21, 2015 6:57:05 GMT -5
It will be interesting to see how long it takes for the notorious newspaper grubs to pig up the joint, but I do believe there will be unprecedented pressure on them to clean up their acts. I give it until the end of the first week. Middle of the second week at best. |
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Post by coachdoc on Mar 21, 2015 8:27:07 GMT -5
Angie Davis? Lookin' mighty young.
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Post by mnhermit on Mar 21, 2015 8:55:55 GMT -5
Angie Davis? Lookin' mighty young. THAT places you in a certain age group (also that was MY first thought when I saw the author/reporter and realized it couldn't possibly be the Angela Davis of which I was thinking). |
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Post by fauxmaha on Mar 21, 2015 8:58:35 GMT -5
New space is always nice. Looks cool, right there.
Never nice to see the old stuff torn down, though.
Where are the presses?
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Post by billhammond on Mar 21, 2015 9:33:50 GMT -5
New space is always nice. Looks cool, right there. Never nice to see the old stuff torn down, though. Where are the presses? Our printing plant is a mile or so upriver, has been for years. Pages are sent via fiber optic links. |
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Post by Marshall on Mar 21, 2015 9:48:33 GMT -5
. . . , Where are the presses?  |
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Post by Chesapeake on Mar 21, 2015 11:26:59 GMT -5
In case anyone hasn't guessed from the foregoing, newsrooms are notoriously cluttered. The story is told that at one paper - can't remember if it was the Star or the Post, or maybe it's apocryphal - the city editor kept ragging on one reporter in particular to clear the chest-high piles off his desk or he would do it for him. The reporter would respond each time by filing or throwing away one or two items and declaring mission accomplished. One day the editor came by and with one broad sweep of his beefy forearm pushed everything onto the floor. He said, "That's what I mean by clearing it off."
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Post by RickW on Mar 21, 2015 21:25:30 GMT -5
In 40 years of newspapering, the only CLEAN and modern newsroom I have ever stepped into was USA Today's flagship in Reston, Va., and I had so many problems with that company that the environs didn't even register as desirable. But having worked in incredibly hostile work environments (everyone smoking, everyone shouting, mice, clutter like you cannot believe) at three papers, I can really appreciate new, clean, quiet and convenient. I'll be able to drive (or take a bus or light rail) to my office, park my car with a roof over its head, walk from the parking garage to work via skyways, and have the entire downtown grid walkable also via skyways. Food options are endless, as are all the up-and-moving lunch and coffee breaks. Each workstation is also configured to make it a simple matter to switch between working in a seated or standing position, a huge deal for copy editors, who don't get to leave the building on assignments as reporters do and spend WAY too many hours sitting down. It will be interesting to see how long it takes for the notorious newspaper grubs to pig up the joint, but I do believe there will be unprecedented pressure on them to clean up their acts. Pretty damned progressive. The desks moving up and down is very cool. Programming shops are much the same, every sits all day. Be nice to be able to do that on the fly. |
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