TV in the newsroom

I am fairly new to this message board, so forgive me if this topic has already been done.
I was curious as to how many papers out there have TVs in their newsroom. Mine doesn't and I have always thought it would be better for us to have one. I feel it would not only be good to have for the news desk (Presidential press conferences, Other breaking news stories, etc.) but it would also be nice for sports to have too. I know we can get live stats and scores off the internet, but sometimes it is nice to see games live and get an idea of what is going on.
I realize a TV could also be a distraction and that it would be easy to abuse, but if its use is policed, I think it would be better to have one than not.
Thoughts?

 

We've got two hanging from the newsroom ceiling, one in the sports wing and the other in the news wing. Usually on, they're on in the background for the most part. But when something breaks, it's nice to be able to see things happen.

 

My first newsroom had three (one for sports.)
My second newsroom had four (1.5 for sports.)
My third newsroom had like 12 (including three for sports. Flat-screens, too.) Boy, we were spoiled there. ;D
My current newsroom has three (one for sports.)

Newsrooms without TVs are the same as newsrooms with a too-formal dress code: If you're spending too much time worrying that your staff is going to "abuse the privilege," you're probably not spending enough time worrying about "making the product better." Give your people an environment they enjoy to work in, and they're almost certainly going to do better work.

 

Couldn't agree more, Buck-Dub. But you know that makes too much sense for some newsrooms, therefore forget it. :

 

We have one in the break room, which I move into my office on Football Friday night's to watch a highlight show of scores from around the state.

 

I've got the best seat in the house, facing the TV. We have the TV that is right by me, then there's one in the ME's office.

 

We have one in the newsroom that just about all the people in news and sports can see at any given time.

 

We've got one common TV, usually has CNN/local news during the day and sports at night. Like now (maybe this damn Nats game will end sometime before Monday).

From the time I spent in the USAT building, they had more than you could count. Three flat screens in the more public areas, back in what used to be the Sports Weekly area there were about six, and they all had the NFL/MLB packages. That was living...

 

It wasn't until my third stop that we had TVs in the newsroom, but you have to consider that those first two stops were quite a while ago. I remember nights working the desk when there was a big game, I'd take a portable TV so that I could keep up with it (a notable example being Game 6 of the 1986 World Series). Another big reason? Back then, you didn't have the Internet to keep up with games and AP only had those BATS updates every once in a while.

My current stop has more TVs than I've ever seen in a newsroom.

 

Where I'm sitting now, while doing pages, the sports TV is behind me -- and not even on.

When I'm at my desk, I'm facing it.

Every newsroom should have at least two TVs, one for news and one for sports.

 

We have two TVs in sports, but we share one with the online people during the day. There are several over in news.

 

We had one in the sports dept. at my last paper. It was turned on during the 6 p.m. newscast and then back on after first edition had been put to bed. Usually caught the last two or three innings of the Red Sox. It remained on through the final two editions of the night. It was on all day on Sundays and holidays. Here, we have a TV in the conference room and publisher's office. I pay to watch the Sox online.