Remote newsrooms: the place and labor of digital news production.

Abstract

This study offers a systematic qualitative exploration of the perceived impact of remote work on news workers’ professional experiences in the U.S. news industry. It describes the experiences of news production situated digitally, socially, spatially, and temporally by combining labor process theory, Gieryn’s concept of place, and Braverman’s (1974) time management concept. This study presents findings from 30 in-depth interviews with news workers throughout the U.S. during pivotal moments of the coronavirus pandemic between 2021 and early 2022. Findings describe how working remotely influenced the experience of news production through digital technology, professional socialization, place, and time. Overall, these findings present an increasingly professionally dominated work-life balance within news work, contributing to labor intensification and an internalized panopticon The conclusion encourages a closer exploration of internalized labor control and labor intensification to better prepare future news workers for professional precarity.