The Denver Post has confirmed that it is moving its reporters, editors and executive staff from its downtown offices to space in its Adams County printing facility. This is just the latest short-sighted decision that the out-of-state owners have foisted on the paper’s talented and hard-working reporters and editors.
Proximity and access are business necessities, a truism that applies both to reporters and public relations executives. Editors are famous for throwing reporters out of the newsroom so they can interact with the public to identify potential stories. And public relations executives should be engaging with their clients face-to-face whenever possible to keep those relationships strong.
The Denver Post has been located in Denver for 125 years, and it is strange to think that streak is coming to an end. As Michael Roberts at Westword noted:
Granted, the Post’s decision to abandon its current HQ makes tremendous economic sense. Given the downsizing of the editorial staff (it’s fallen from 300 to around 100 over the past five to ten years), a lot of the space in the building wasn’t being utilized — and the property is worth a mint in the current booming real estate market. But the move is freighted with symbolism. The idea that Denver’s daily newspaper will no longer be based in Denver proper is sure to strike longtime subscribers and news consumers as a further indication of the broadsheet’s decline.
