John Crowley, freelance journalist, on working from home - or is it living at work?

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The coronavirus pandemic forced most journalists (who were not furloughed or made redundant) to become housebound reporters.

Working from home has, for some, been a welcome break from the newsroom. Not just because it saves a commute or comes with more family-time; from a working point of view, home offers solace and comfort that newsrooms often do not have.

For others, the experience has been more like living at work: finding it difficult to log off from the computer, putting up with makeshift workstations and feeling disconnected from support networks.

A recent survey, 'Journalism in the Time of Covid', co-authored by freelance journalists John Crowley and Andrew Garthwaite showed this contrast in experiences well. One third of survey's 130 international respondents said lockdown had been positive, leaving two thirds on the not-so-positive end.

For those who have had a bad time this year, the impact is concerning. The survey showed that three quarters of journalists experienced lockdown-related stress, and of those, more than half cite that this has manifested itself in lack of productivity and moments of feeling depressed and anxious.

In this week's podcast, Crowley shares more of the pros and cons of lockdown. We also keep one eye on what newsroom leaders can do to support staff who, quite likely, are either suffering in silence or are not willing to settle with inadequate support networks.

Want to know more about leading a disrupted newsroom? Join us at our next digital journalism conference Newsrewired from 1 December 2020 where this will be on the agenda amongst four days of industry expert panel discussions and workshops. Visit newsrewired.com for event agenda and tickets.

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