I loved this piece by Maureen Dowd in the New York Times on the weekend. A requiem for the newsroom. Although I worked for newspapers for years, I've never actually worked in a newsroom. One of the perks of being a columnist is never having to show your face at the door. You just file the copy.
Occasionally, however, I would make the effort to go in and attend an editorial meeting. And, of course, I never missed the Christmas parties.
Dowd, like most people, has been working from home the last couple of years but found herself in the Times’ Washington Bureau, probably because she's in town to attend the White House correspondents’ dinner.
She’s not loving the experience.
As I write this, I’m in a deserted newsroom in The Times’s D.C. office. After working at home for two years during Covid, I was elated to get back, so I could wander around and pick up the latest scoop.
But in the last year, there has been only a smattering of people whenever I’m here, with row upon row of empty desks. Sometimes a larger group gets lured in for a meeting with a platter of bagels.
This comes after a rolling series of memories recalling the great newsrooms of yore.
The legendary percussive soundtrack of a paper’s newsroom in the 1940s was best described by the Times culture czar Arthur Gelb in his memoir, “City Room”: “There was an overwhelming sense of purpose, fire and life: the clacking rhythm of typewriters, the throbbing of great machines in the composing room on the floor above, reporters shouting for copy boys to pick up their stories.” There was also the pungent aroma of vice: a carpet of cigarette butts, clerks who were part-time bookies, dice games, brass spittoons and a glamorous movie-star mistress wandering about. (The Times never went as far as Cary Grant’s editor did in “His Girl Friday,” putting a pickpocket on the payroll.)
I know without checking that there would‘ve been an epic hissyfit and backlash to all this, and it would’ve been generational. If Dowd or the Times tweeted a link to the column, inevitably, the mentions would’ve been full o’ GenZ kids clapping back with maximum dudgeon.
But she’s not wrong about what’s been lost, not just in newsrooms but anywhere that institutional memory and culture rely on presence to pass the golden staff from one generation to the next.
Although I never worked in newspaper newsrooms, I did work for a lot of magazines, and I still have fond memories of taking myself into the writers’ rooms to knock out some long feature articles. I learned a lot more in those rooms than I ever would have in a journalism degree (partly because I didn't do a journalism degree). Also, if you don't go into the office, you miss out on lunch.
The Independent Monthly used to throw some absolutely cracking lunches, and for a young writer, they were the best. You could easily find yourself knocking back drinks with legends of the game, not just local yahoos, but international stars who’d just flown in from the other side of the world.
I'm not bemoaning the change. I’m pretty lucky to be able to work from home and live a good life. And as much as I wonder how the lessons I learned are going to be passed on to the next generation, I guess I should stop wondering. Most content in the future is going to be generated by AI, so it won't even be an issue.
As someone who's peers are few and far between, it makes no difference to me whether I'm in the office or not regarding institutional memory (it's much more just human to human interaction that benefits), and even when we have been working on the same farm, we've always been in different paddocks, ringfenced by potential conflicts of interest, so the unique skill set I have will go nowhere. I'm a one man band because I'm competent, so no mentoring for me. Unless I write a book, but even then the audience is likely to be just a few hundred peeps. Hardly seems worth it.
AI will play a part, not so much in producing content as such, but in analysis of large amounts of data and spitting out results. The problem lies in the morons who will lap up those results without due consideration. I know because they do it now with my meatsack generated output. They just don't know what they don't know.
coming from a finance background (insert the pantomime boo hiss and "he's behind you") it was a bit the same. I've been out of that city environment for years now but those long boozy lunches where you could sneak off for a few with the office but then equally put in some hard hours helping other people move money around it was a fun environment. And i learnt a lot. Those xmas parties of excess though? Hooboy.
I suspect the same thing is happening there as it is in the newsrooms - it was a moment in time. As a different generation comes through the ranks and remote work is more common i'm optimistic that gender equality will be a footnote in history - especially the misogynistic harassment side of things and that seems to go by the wayside as alcohol loses its grip.
This speaks to me of teams. I miss teams, being part of a group. Hopefully, the one workforce that will still last are kitchens, and kitchens for high end restaurants.
Group of people with a singular dedicated focus - check.
All sorts of side hussles and activities going on - check.
Grizzled older characters with equal balance of good work wisdom and bad life habits - check.
Potential for absolute benders and hours of you life going MIA - definite check.
Don't get me wrong, they have evolved. The open kitchen has probably extended the life of many apprentices (and shorted the career of a few head chefs!) by putting everyone on stage. No room for tom foolery or straight up bullying.
As you note about institutional memory, there's a universal aspect to this; some entry level staff joining my organisation in the past couple of years have barely had any experience of day to day showing up to an office and just being in the mix.
As for "it's all gonna be done by AI". I don't know. I really don't. Basically, 40 years ago we were being assured that it was all gonna be done by robots. Realistically, yes, the workplace changes and I think it's fair to be worried that jobs can be deskilled. So we don't need mechanics to fix our cars, we just need technicians capable of removing and replacing parts, changing tyres and filling up wiper fluid.
The broader truth, I hope, is that mechanisation and automation has been with us for the past 220-odd years, and we've still managed to find work for pretty much everyone.
As someone who's peers are few and far between, it makes no difference to me whether I'm in the office or not regarding institutional memory (it's much more just human to human interaction that benefits), and even when we have been working on the same farm, we've always been in different paddocks, ringfenced by potential conflicts of interest, so the unique skill set I have will go nowhere. I'm a one man band because I'm competent, so no mentoring for me. Unless I write a book, but even then the audience is likely to be just a few hundred peeps. Hardly seems worth it.
AI will play a part, not so much in producing content as such, but in analysis of large amounts of data and spitting out results. The problem lies in the morons who will lap up those results without due consideration. I know because they do it now with my meatsack generated output. They just don't know what they don't know.
coming from a finance background (insert the pantomime boo hiss and "he's behind you") it was a bit the same. I've been out of that city environment for years now but those long boozy lunches where you could sneak off for a few with the office but then equally put in some hard hours helping other people move money around it was a fun environment. And i learnt a lot. Those xmas parties of excess though? Hooboy.
I suspect the same thing is happening there as it is in the newsrooms - it was a moment in time. As a different generation comes through the ranks and remote work is more common i'm optimistic that gender equality will be a footnote in history - especially the misogynistic harassment side of things and that seems to go by the wayside as alcohol loses its grip.
This speaks to me of teams. I miss teams, being part of a group. Hopefully, the one workforce that will still last are kitchens, and kitchens for high end restaurants.
Group of people with a singular dedicated focus - check.
All sorts of side hussles and activities going on - check.
Grizzled older characters with equal balance of good work wisdom and bad life habits - check.
Potential for absolute benders and hours of you life going MIA - definite check.
Don't get me wrong, they have evolved. The open kitchen has probably extended the life of many apprentices (and shorted the career of a few head chefs!) by putting everyone on stage. No room for tom foolery or straight up bullying.
Do I miss it, yeah probably.
Would I go back, shit no.
Interesting as an archival/historical piece. I'm fascinated with what the possibilities will be in 100years from now for this function.
As you note about institutional memory, there's a universal aspect to this; some entry level staff joining my organisation in the past couple of years have barely had any experience of day to day showing up to an office and just being in the mix.
As for "it's all gonna be done by AI". I don't know. I really don't. Basically, 40 years ago we were being assured that it was all gonna be done by robots. Realistically, yes, the workplace changes and I think it's fair to be worried that jobs can be deskilled. So we don't need mechanics to fix our cars, we just need technicians capable of removing and replacing parts, changing tyres and filling up wiper fluid.
The broader truth, I hope, is that mechanisation and automation has been with us for the past 220-odd years, and we've still managed to find work for pretty much everyone.