Specific challenges for journalists and home office

As reported by US academic Mary Meeham in the NiemanLab[1], bad habits in the newsroom still need to be addressed for home office: “in order for work-from-home to be successful and be a viable option for newsrooms, they have to correct issues that existed in pre-pandemic times, from technological inequality to toxic office culture. It can’t just be the same as always, with a change of scenery”.

Home office and telework imply relying on online communication only. This modifies the working relations, but in the case of journalists, it also raises essential questions of working methods and protection of privacy, not to mention the specific issue of confidentiality of sources, which is outside of the scope of this survey. For example, thanks to technology, it is perfectly possible for an employer to see the flow of information sent or received by employees, but also his/her online behaviour during and after work, in particular on social networks. But, as reminded by the Italian journalist Alessandra Costante and General Secretary of the union FNSI, “We all work on a collective work, which is the one that will then go on television, online or in print. Doing this remotely is complicated, if not impossible. The news, the work of individual and collective ingenuity, becomes an oxymoron if packaged by journalists locked within four walls. And we journalists risk being mere executors of something that is decided elsewhere. Not only that: despite the powerful infrastructural connection, the technological upgrade that companies are preparing to carry out, the danger is to lose the emotional connection with the society and with colleagues, which is so important for us. This is a leap into the past, to the top-down organization of the 1950s editorial offices, paradoxically favoured by the development of technologies”[2]. Also Jens, an Austrian staff journalist, thinks that telework has a “huge impact” on journalists: “stories very often develop with discussions. You talk to experts before the actual interview. I have the impression that people talk more openly when you meet them in person, than when you do an interview via zoom. In my opinion, investigative work is hardly possible at all because a source would fear that a call is being recorded or tapped”.

This may have professional consequences in the long term, as pointed out by the Director of the Spanish El Diario, Ignacio Escolar quoted in the Cuadernos de periodistas: "A newsroom is a training ship where young people learn from veterans, and this is lost with telework, since young people do not have references"[3]. This confirmed by a survey made by the Reuters institute showing that “more than three-quarters (77%) [of respondents] say that remote working has made it harder to build and maintain relationships in a team”[4].

During the pandemic, the trauma of experiencing it and covering it had an impact on health, both mental and physical. But once home office or hybrid working time between a newsroom and home becomes the “new normal”, both employers and journalists themselves need to look into the impact on the quality of their work. Unions/associations and employers need to address some aspects such as physical and mental health of remote workers, the “tech gap” between homes with different access to internet and equipment. This is particularly important in broadcasting, where journalists are regularly asked to execute technical duties, such as editing the audio-visual content at home. Home office for journalists obviously also has an impact on the relations between journalists and their colleagues, but also journalists and their sources. Finally, the organisation of the “traditional” newsroom may also change and adapt to “hybrid” forms of work.

[1] In NiemanLab, 3 August 2020: https://www.niemanlab.org/2020/08/newsrooms-can-prosper-with-remote-work-but-they-have-to-make-the-right-adjustments-first/ [2] Minutes of the Seminar“Il giornalista nell’età dello smart working”, 17 September2020, https://www.fnsi.it/upload/70/70efdf2ec9b086079795c442636b55fb/041b4508341be9bfae02df5699c7d55a.pdf [3] https://www.cuadernosdeperiodistas.com/el-teletrabajo-para-sobrevivir-a-la-pandemia-hablan-los-periodistas/ [4] https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/changing-newsrooms-2020-addressing-diversity-and-nurturing-talent-time-unprecedented-change