When I first started working on newspapers everything was done in one building. (Bear with me. I’m older than the hills!) Everything had a physical form - typed copy, photographic plates, paper tapes, printing plates made with hot metal… Then computers came in and printers went out as their skills were replaced by ‘new’ technology. But computers were expensive and office networks were inaccessible from outside, so the newsroom continued to be the hub of production.

Today you won’t find many journalists without a computer and broadband connection. They can have all the tools that they would have access to in the office. Even the move to multimedia doesn’t present a huge financial barrier. Web broadcast quality cameras cost only a few hundred pounds and the price is falling all the time. And even relatively cheap PCs are capable of simple video editing.

I believe physical newsrooms will become less and less important. The main driving force which will destroy them is cost. If companies can reduce their physical infrastructure they will. In some ways this will be destructive to the news-gathering process. Having people around you to bounce ideas off is valuable. But then if the only people you’re talking to are fellow hacks that encourages a very inward-looking perspective.

Anyway, time will tell if I’m right.

Jon

And all the time thinking how advanced we were because we had a fax machine and worked on some sort of new computer called an “Apple Mac”…!

Thanks for the post Jon, I used to live, and started doing PR, in Manchester so it was cool to hear how the MEN’s changing.