2022 will be a make-or-break year for remote and flexible work in news, particularly in national and global newsrooms. This is the last chance to take what we’ve learned from the pandemic and implement long-term changes that can help these organizations become more inclusive and better places to work.
Next year, it seems likely newsrooms will finalize their plans for returning to office work. But it’s another question if news leaders will make the changes necessary to give their employees more flexibility in where and how they work — or if they’ll fall back into old habits and outdated management practices.
Even as many people continue to work from home, news organizations with correspondents around the country and the world still insist on hiring many positions to work out of offices, especially in New York and Washington. Bureaucracy and HR concerns are the likely culprits, but they’re also just excuses. After all, national news organizations like Vox Media, Forbes, and The 19th have figured out how to offer many fully remote positions.
There are valid reasons for news organizations to maintain the status quo. Newsrooms are great places for reporters and editors to collaborate. They offer opportunities for younger staffers to learn the trade, and they can be exciting, adrenaline-filled environments. But like offices in other industries, they won’t be the same after the pandemic, and they simply aren’t necessary for some kinds of jobs. Now’s the time to reimagine what newsrooms look like and make them better places to work.
Remote work can help chip away at some persistent problems in national media. More remote positions can allow for more desperately needed diverse hiring practices. Having staffers more widely dispersed throughout the country could improve how newsrooms think about and shape the news, and potentially cut down on parachute journalism. Hiring more remote workers could also push newsrooms to improve and formalize processes like mentorship and training.
That said, it’s not enough just to make certain positions remote-friendly and call it a day. In order to make remote work functional, newsrooms must actually enact policies for onboarding, stipends, mentorship, communication, and work culture, among other things. Also, establishing remote and flexible work policies must incorporate staff feedback.
All of this will take time and experimentation, and we should work together across the industry to share our knowledge as we figure out how to make this work. It will be worth it: Newsrooms that formalize meaningful remote and flexible work policies will likely become more competitive in attracting and retaining talent.
We’re now nearly two years into the pandemic; we have proof that news operations can function outside of offices. It’s past time for more newsrooms to come to terms with the future of remote work.
Rachel Glickhouse is a senior project manager at the (all-remote) News Revenue Hub.
2022 will be a make-or-break year for remote and flexible work in news, particularly in national and global newsrooms. This is the last chance to take what we’ve learned from the pandemic and implement long-term changes that can help these organizations become more inclusive and better places to work.
Next year, it seems likely newsrooms will finalize their plans for returning to office work. But it’s another question if news leaders will make the changes necessary to give their employees more flexibility in where and how they work — or if they’ll fall back into old habits and outdated management practices.
Even as many people continue to work from home, news organizations with correspondents around the country and the world still insist on hiring many positions to work out of offices, especially in New York and Washington. Bureaucracy and HR concerns are the likely culprits, but they’re also just excuses. After all, national news organizations like Vox Media, Forbes, and The 19th have figured out how to offer many fully remote positions.
There are valid reasons for news organizations to maintain the status quo. Newsrooms are great places for reporters and editors to collaborate. They offer opportunities for younger staffers to learn the trade, and they can be exciting, adrenaline-filled environments. But like offices in other industries, they won’t be the same after the pandemic, and they simply aren’t necessary for some kinds of jobs. Now’s the time to reimagine what newsrooms look like and make them better places to work.
Remote work can help chip away at some persistent problems in national media. More remote positions can allow for more desperately needed diverse hiring practices. Having staffers more widely dispersed throughout the country could improve how newsrooms think about and shape the news, and potentially cut down on parachute journalism. Hiring more remote workers could also push newsrooms to improve and formalize processes like mentorship and training.
That said, it’s not enough just to make certain positions remote-friendly and call it a day. In order to make remote work functional, newsrooms must actually enact policies for onboarding, stipends, mentorship, communication, and work culture, among other things. Also, establishing remote and flexible work policies must incorporate staff feedback.
All of this will take time and experimentation, and we should work together across the industry to share our knowledge as we figure out how to make this work. It will be worth it: Newsrooms that formalize meaningful remote and flexible work policies will likely become more competitive in attracting and retaining talent.
We’re now nearly two years into the pandemic; we have proof that news operations can function outside of offices. It’s past time for more newsrooms to come to terms with the future of remote work.
Rachel Glickhouse is a senior project manager at the (all-remote) News Revenue Hub.
Anthony Nadler
Melody Kramer
Matt Karolian
Joe Amditis
Raney Aronson-Rath
Burt Herman
Jessica Clark
Megan McCarthy
Amara Aguilar
Joy Mayer
Don Day
Gabe Schneider
Juleyka Lantigua
Matt DeRienzo
Sam Guzik
Jesenia De Moya Correa
Shalabh Upadhyay
Millie Tran
Mario García
Sarah Stonbely
Tony Baranowski
Simon Galperin
Sarah Marshall
Kerri Hoffman
Eric Nuzum
Joni Deutsch
Zizi Papacharissi
S. Mitra Kalita
Gordon Crovitz
Julia Munslow
Christina Shih
Daniel Eilemberg
Janelle Salanga
Kristen Jeffers
Jody Brannon
Rasmus Kleis Nielsen
Errin Haines
Julia Angwin
Larry Ryckman
Stephen Fowler
Jesse Holcomb
Catalina Albeanu
Anika Anand
James Green
Mike Rispoli
Shannon McGregor Carolyn Schmitt
Whitney Phillips
Victor Pickard
Matthew Pressman
Kathleen Searles Rebekah Trumble
Moreno Cruz Osório
Cherian George
AX Mina
Gonzalo del Peon
Cindy Royal
Mandy Jenkins
David Skok
Ståle Grut
John Davidow
Candace Amos
Doris Truong
Natalia Viana
David Cohn
Chicas Poderosas
Robert Hernandez
Kristen Muller
Parker Molloy
Rachel Glickhouse
Paul Cheung
Chase Davis
Meena Thiruvengadam
Nikki Usher
Tamar Charney
Michael W. Wagner
Simon Allison
Amy Schmitz Weiss
Brian Moritz
Christoph Mergerson
Laxmi Parthasarathy
Cristina Tardáguila
Francesco Zaffarano
Ariel Zirulnick
Alice Antheaume
Tom Trewinnard
Kendra Pierre-Louis
Jonas Kaiser
Wilson Liévano
Andrew Freedman
Joshua P. Darr
Richard Tofel
Izabella Kaminska
Jennifer Coogan
Mary Walter-Brown
Jennifer Brandel
Anita Varma
j. Siguru Wahutu
Jim Friedlich
A.J. Bauer
Stefanie Murray
Joanne McNeil