In the news: When, if ever, will publishers and their staffs return to the office?

This week, Sara Guaglione of Digiday.com discusses where things stand in the publishing world, and there seems to be a disconnect between publishers and their employees. “Publishers are now expecting to fully open their office doors to employees in the summer,” writes Guaglione. “But their staffers aren’t expecting it to happen until next year.” She cites publishers such as the New York Times, whose plans to bring back many more staffers this month have been postponed in response to the still raging pandemic. Several publishers have now pushed the goalpost to June or July, but it remains to be seen whether or not the pandemic will have died down enough by then, particularly with new strains circulating in the US.

In any event, telework is likely here to stay in some form. Remote work opens up larger talent pools for publishers with physical offices in major cities such as New York; conversely, it opens up wider job prospects for publishing professionals everywhere. One Reuters staffer points out other benefits to Guaglione: ‘A Reuters employee said media companies should use this situation as an opportunity to give up expensive office real estate and cut costs.” And at Buzzfeed, Guaglione reports, an internal survey revealed that most employees expect to work from home at least part-time after the pandemic is over.

Read more here.

Also Notable

Confronting Racism in the Newsroom, Past and Present

This week, the Columbia Journalism Review explores how news outlets should address historical and present-day newsroom racism. Many have apologized, but Alexandria Neason of CJR.org notes that this is not enough. She makes a case study of the North Carolina News & Observer’s historic attempts to suppress Black voters. Progress has been slow, she notes: “In 1978, the organization now known as the American Society of News Editors (asne) set a goal of building a journalism workforce that reflected the racial makeup of the US population by the year 2000.... In 2000, ASNE pushed its target date for diversity back five years, and d newspapers began to issue apologies for past wrongdoing.” She explores what various magazines and newspapers have done in recent years to atone for past mistakes and current systemic injustices. Ultimately, though, she says that “apologies are crucial to the ongoing work of accountability. It can be heartening to see news outlets engage in acts of penance. But they are not the same as reparations.” Read Neason’s piece in its entirety here.

HD Media Sues Google and Facebook

Many publishers in the newspaper business are worried about the revenue they’ve ceded to tech giants like Google and Facebook. HD Media, owner of several West Virginia newspapers, is now suing the two corporations for monopolistic practices that have sapped publishers of digital advertising revenue. Marc Tracy of the New York Times reports: “The suit is focused on the centrality of Google to the online advertising market, as well as an agreement between Google and Facebook that is the center of an antitrust lawsuit brought by 10 state attorneys general. It is estimated the two tech companies together accounted for more than half of all digital advertising spending in 2019.” The suit, HD Media says, is the first of its kind by a newspaper company. Read more here.

The Perks of Hiring Salespeople

In a January 29 IJNet.org piece, James Breiner emphasizes the importance of hiring a salesperson to a publishing team, and what’s at stake for publishers who don’t. He paints a stark picture by the numbers: “You might not realize that you probably are paying sales commissions of anywhere from 30% to 50% of the revenue from every ad you run on your website.... This is revenue you’re giving up.” He shares his tips for hiring, salary, and organizational structure. Read more here.

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