Touring Newsrooms to Determine Work Culture

Alright, say you go and do some recon before starting your actual job search.  A big part of this would be a newsroom visit.  Remember when you were scouting colleges in high school?  Just as the campus visit makes or breaks your decision, touring newsrooms is the same.                

Here are some tips to immediately indicate a newsroom's work culture:

Use Your Reporter's Instinct

Naturally, a reporter tends to have a better-than-average intuition and possess a keen sense of his or her surroundings.  You can also tell when people are feeding you bullshit.  Beyond everything else, you must rely on your ability to sense an organization's culture.  If it feels right, it probably is.  If it feels wrong, it probably is.

Be insightful.

Pay Attention to Decibels

Noise level is paramount.  A loud newsroom--where people are collaborating, cooperating and communicating--is the mark of a great cultured newsroom.  It shows people who are comfortable enough to be very open and laid back, are enthusiastic about coming to work and love doing what they do.  A unusually quiet newsroom is definitely a red flag.

Beware of Cryogenic Newsrooms

These are newsrooms that are very cold, very sterile and very high-pressure.  Point blank, stay away from them--far, far away.

Judge Receptiveness Level

This can range anywhere from how you're greeted to the general attitudes and sentiments toward you. Did they seem happy to see you? Or were they stuffy and formal? Did they treat you like a serious journalist or a college kid who wasn't worth their attention? Did they act like their time was too important to talk to you? Or were they very attentive?

Work the Room to Get Feedback

Talk to as many people as you can about what's important to you.  Ask pertinent questions and listen critically to their responses.  Perhaps someone will say something that really strikes a chord with you, or really turns you off.  Most of the time, you only get one newsroom visit before making the choice to pursue it or not, so make sure to have every element of your communication count.  Make sure you're "on" and ready to rock.

Above All...

Have fun.  It's not a job interview.  Relax, be yourself and see how they respond.  Your first newsroom job will be your home for at least the first one to three years, so make sure it's as awesome as you are.

P.S.-A good editor will take you out to lunch and pay for it during a newsroom visit.