A monolithic mess

Sorry I still haven't posted the news forum stuff. It's gonna be sort of a big project, so I need to do it right. Hopefully by the end of the week I'll have some of the results up.

First of all, my heart goes out to the KTRK-Houston pilot and photographer who were killed in a helicopter crash this afternoon. Keep their families in your thoughts.

And now to the main feature!



The other day while talking with my editor, we hit on a problem currently faced by newspapers within the company and apparently nationwide. What do we do with these giant news buildings now that we're having to cut back extensively on pretty much everything?

While walking around our own "monolith" (my editor's word, although I wish I could claim it), I couldn't help but notice that around 50 percent of the building is not in use. Yeah, it used to be. There were photography studios, a helicopter pad, meeting rooms, desks, and computers, all with signs of wear and tear. But now the halls are empty. It was a little creepy and apocalyptic, actually.

When I heard how much it costs to operate a building the size of ours each month, I almost had a heart attack. Newspapers can't afford to be paying for these monoliths when they've got bigger problems. So what can we do to monetize these buildings that aren't being used? I've heard of a few options.

1. Rent out part of the space. One of our papers in St. Augustine was throwing this idea around. If you can consolidate your newsroom, advertising and circulation to one floor (not really much of a problem if you look at all the cutbacks happening these days), then that leaves an entire floor in a beautiful, grandiose, brand spanking new building up for grabs. People would kill for that - small businesses, law firms, governmental bodies. As long as you establish a solid line between the newspaper operation and whatever business shares the space with you (so as to eliminate any room for accusations of bias), all that's left is to reap the benefits. And if your building isn't rental-ready, it might be worth it to install a few walls and some extra outside stairwells if it means saving hundreds of thousands of dollars a year in utilities.

2. Just flat out sell it. That's what The Columbian is thinking about doing. If you've built a gigantic freaking Parthenon, people are bound to place some value in it, especially since most news buildings also come with great locations that usually facilitate a quick dash over to the chamber of commerce or some other downtown political unit. Maybe right now isn't the perfect time to try to sell, but as soon as the economy starts turning around, businesses are going to be more willing to invest in a beautiful, convenient and spacious building.