Office rearrangement

[Den1983]

We're in the midst of a complete reorganization of our newsroom. As long as I've been here - four years - we've been in a back little room that seats maybe eight total, but it's almost always been me and my staff of 2 and the business editor, meaning it's quiet and we get to go about our work. There's a door and stuff, so that's nice.

But with the recent rearrangement, there is talk of putting us smack dab in the middle of the newsroom, in the open. No privacy, with all the gossip and conversations of advertising and other news reporters well within distance.

I'm interested to see how your departments are situated, and whether being "out in the open" is, indeed, not a nuisance at all or if you'd fight for your own corner or what have you to go about your business.

 

[Stitch]

At one stop, we were out in the open, and in another, we couldn't see the front desk.

 

[sgreenwell]

Eh, I think it's impossible to tell what kind of an effect it'll have without knowing the composition of your newsroom and what not. I'm the type that likes being in the middle of the newsroom, BSing and chatting it up with others; I kind of view that as the function, to spitball and brainstorm and chat with other writers. If I want to get something done without distraction, I normally just stay at home now.

Luckily, at my last shop, the seating assignments were by choice. So, for us younger and noisier people, we were in the middle, with some of the sports guys who liked quiet in the back behind a partition, and the photo / audio people in the office.

 

[Den1983]

Eh, I think it's impossible to tell what kind of an effect it'll have without knowing the composition of your newsroom and what not.

We would be surrounded by the other news reporters and right by the editor's office. Advertising/sales would also be well within distance.

I don't know if that helps any.

 

[sgreenwell]

Eh, I think it's impossible to tell what kind of an effect it'll have without knowing the composition of your newsroom and what not.

We would be surrounded by the other news reporters and right by the editor's office. Advertising/sales would also be well within distance.

I don't know if that helps any.

I meant more like the personalities at play here. Do you want to be in a busier area? Do you have a news editor who demands on silence, or are they willing to let people get nosy and animated? Do you think it'll be an impediment to your work if you're in a noisier area?

 

[Magic In The Night]

We went from a really nice quiet spot where we could ***** and whine and no one heard us to being moved basically in the middle of the noisiest spot in the newsroom, between the graphics department and the designers. Not only does their noise really disturb us but now every little bitchy remark we make gets heard by people who all go running to whine to their supervisors if they hear it. Not a good situation. Good luck!

 

[bumpy mcgee]

The only good thing about our design being done at another paper is it's just sports in the office after 7 on most nights.
Of course, since it's a two-man show, there's a few nights a week when there is only one person in the newsroom at night.

 

[Spartan Squad]

My shop isn't big enough to have partitioned rooms, so all the reporters are out in the open with the advertising and front desk crew. It's not so bad because most of the advertisers are out of the office for a large part of the day, but around quitting time, it gets pretty loud.

 

[holy bull]

Our department is in the panhandle of a big rectangular newsroom, with this big empty chasm where people used to work before layoffs. It can still get noisy or distracting at times, and if I need to write and have no phone or production obligations, out comes the iPod.

 

[Den1983]

Eh, I think it's impossible to tell what kind of an effect it'll have without knowing the composition of your newsroom and what not.

We would be surrounded by the other news reporters and right by the editor's office. Advertising/sales would also be well within distance.

I don't know if that helps any.

I meant more like the personalities at play here. Do you want to be in a busier area? Do you have a news editor who demands on silence, or are they willing to let people get nosy and animated? Do you think it'll be an impediment to your work if you're in a noisier area?

The news reporters are relatively quiet. The advertising/sales folks are a chatty, irritating bunch. Loud, obnoxious.

Our guys are pretty much quiet. Not loud at all.

What I fear is exactly what Magic in the Night noted.

 

[YGBFKM]

Newsrooms are supposed to be loud.

 

[Frank_Ridgeway]

Newsrooms are supposed to be loud.

I agree. I've always said that this isn't a ****ing golf tournament. There's nothing worse than walking past a news copy desk where the people are all like Chief Broom in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest."

 

[YGBFKM]

The loud newsroom, with all manner of banter, bull**** and activity, makes a shift 1,000 times better than coming to work in a morgue where everyone plugs in and ignores everyone else.

 

[KYSportsWriter]

We have two levels. Downstairs near the main entrance is the front desk. Down the hallway is the graphic designers and other folks like IT staff, and down another hall is the classified folks.

You can enter the newsroom through one of two staircases. When you enter each door, the three-person community news team is the first you encounter. Then, on the right-hand side, you have photogs, copy desk, features and sports. On the left-hand side, you have four or five reporters, then three offices for our county editor, ME and SE.

 

[jr/shotglass]

The loud newsroom, with all manner of banter, bull**** and activity, makes a shift 1,000 times better than coming to work in a morgue where everyone plugs in and ignores everyone else.

To a degree. I love a bustling newsroom. But when the sports guys gather around the TV and shout encouragement at the screen, I don't blame news-side for getting a little ticked.

 

[Harry Doyle]

I suppose if you have to go through a newsroom reorganization, this is the right kind.

 

[wicked]

The loud newsroom, with all manner of banter, bull**** and activity, makes a shift 1,000 times better than coming to work in a morgue where everyone plugs in and ignores everyone else.

At our place, everyone communicates via IM, only sporadic person-to-person communication. I wonder how much it affects the finished product.

 

[holy bull]

The loud newsroom, with all manner of banter, bull**** and activity, makes a shift 1,000 times better than coming to work in a morgue where everyone plugs in and ignores everyone else.

To a degree. I love a bustling newsroom. But when the sports guys gather around the TV and shout encouragement at the screen, I don't blame news-side for getting a little ticked.

Right. I'm as big a bull****ter/banterer as the next person, but I've had to tell someone I was interviewing on the phone "Hang on a second", cover the phone and yell, "Hey, shut up" at a bunch of guys loudly doing Mystery Science Theater 3000 play-by-play over a game on TV.

 

[spikechiquet]

My last shop, the SE was anal about ANY noise. He was so bad that he was slam his fists on the top of the desk or just get up and leave the room.
We knew his pattern and loved to **** with him. The best was when our new ME started and didn't know his "tendencies" and when he started pulling his ****, she looked at him and said, "What the hell is your problem?"
We were all in one room, and if our columnist came into the room, he would start talking to any and all...he made sure to talk loudly right near the SE...just to **** him off.
I agree, a newsroom isn't a nursery. If you wanna go suck on yer mama's titty, go somewhere else. Adults at work (and sometimes play) here!

 

[Ace]

I suppose if you have to go through a newsroom reorganization, this is the right kind.

Really. Better to lose a door than get shown the door.