For months the Washington Post’s iconic fifth floor newsroom has been under renovation. Contractors cleared out the warren of desks filmed portrayed in All The President’s Men to make way for the merged print and digital newsroom.
Reporters have been working from home, from other floors, from closets. They are returning this week to their new newsroom—and they are not pleased.
“It’s a shrine to editors,” one writer told The Washingtonian.
The circular universal desk is spacious and surfaced with polished wood. Reporters estimate that two thirds of the floor is devoted to editors; they get the rest.
Reporters checking out their new home report that desks barely hold a notebook, phone, and a few files; cubicles are jammed together; they have no file cabinets or storage.
Then there are big flat screens hanging from the ceiling. Editors get a clear view of TV news, reporters see the dark gray rear panels.
“Seating the reporters appears to have been an afterthought,” another reporter says.
Scribes are sounding off to editors. One top editor, who every day has to worry about falling circulation and declining ad revenues, says dealing with all the desk envy is “agony.”
Desk Envy in New Washington Post Newsroom
For months the Washington Post’s iconic fifth floor newsroom has been under renovation. Contractors cleared out the warren of desks
filmedportrayed in All The President’s Men to make way for the merged print and digital newsroom.Reporters have been working from home, from other floors, from closets. They are returning this week to their new newsroom—and they are not pleased.
“It’s a shrine to editors,” one writer told The Washingtonian.
The circular universal desk is spacious and surfaced with polished wood. Reporters estimate that two thirds of the floor is devoted to editors; they get the rest.
Reporters checking out their new home report that desks barely hold a notebook, phone, and a few files; cubicles are jammed together; they have no file cabinets or storage.
Then there are big flat screens hanging from the ceiling. Editors get a clear view of TV news, reporters see the dark gray rear panels.
“Seating the reporters appears to have been an afterthought,” another reporter says.
Scribes are sounding off to editors. One top editor, who every day has to worry about falling circulation and declining ad revenues, says dealing with all the desk envy is “agony.”
Subscribe to Washingtonian
Follow Washingtonian on Twitter
More>> Capital Comment Blog | News & Politics | Party Photos
Most Popular in News & Politics
The Missing Men of Mount Pleasant
Another Mysterious Anti-Trump Statue Has Appeared on the National Mall
Muriel Bowser Defends Her BLM Plaza Decision and Looks Back on a Decade as Mayor
Yet Another Anti-Trump Statue Has Shown Up on the National Mall
Want to Search Donald Trump’s Truth Social Posts? A New Site Is Here to Help.
Washingtonian Magazine
July Issue: The "Best Of" Issue
View IssueSubscribe
Follow Us on Social
Follow Us on Social
Related
How Would a New DC Stadium Compare to the Last One?
The Culture of Lacrosse Is More Complex Than People Think
Did Television Begin in Dupont Circle?
Kings Dominion’s Wild New Coaster Takes Flight in Virginia
More from News & Politics
A DNC Official Will Run for Eleanor Holmes Norton’s Seat
AC Problem Closes Four Smithsonian Museums on the National Mall
Epstein Files Fiasco Continues to Be Weird and Entertaining, GOP Congressman Sued Over Unpaid Rent, and Lotuses Hit Peak Bloom
I Tried to Train for American Ninja Warrior
Trump Wants to Rename Soccer, the Nationals Chose a Shortstop, and Virginians Are the US French-Fry-Eating Champions
Guest List: 5 People We’d Love to Hang Out With This July
The Washington Nationals Just Fired the Manager and GM Who Led Them to a Championship. Why Has the Team Been so Bad Since?
FBI Building Now on Track to Leave DC After All, Whistleblower Leaks Texts Suggesting Justice Department Planned to Blow Off Federal Court Orders, and NPS Cuts Leave Assateague Island Without Lifeguards