There are certain intangible benefits of working in a newsroom, like the fact that you can be on the phone all day and not bother your neighbor because they, too, are on the phone all day, and then you can simultaneously slam down your phones (VOIP or ~landlines~ only, cell phones won’t work for this) and look at your coworker and empathetically mutter “fuck ’em” about the lying politician or unhelpful PR person or wayward source who’s walking back their claim right before deadline.
But there are other benefits, too.
Freelance reporter Kyle Chayka — along with news-industry compatriots Alana Massey and Peter Moskowitz — is attempting to build a small newsroom for freelance journalists, researchers and writers in Bushwick.
“The same as any usual newsroom, it could be a space for collaboration and bouncing ideas off each other,” Chayka explained in a recent interview. “That doesn’t usually happen with freelancers.”
Chayka writes about technology and culture. His work has appeared in publications such as Rolling Stone, The Verge and The New Yorker, and he writes a regular column for Pacific Standard and Maxim. He currently works in a coworking space in Bushwick, but sharing a room with graphic designers, coders and other people that might prefer to work in silence is not an environment suited to his line of work.
Chayka said the space the group is looking at is 1,000 square feet and about five minutes from the Morgan stop on the L train. He expects that it could comfortably fit 10-12 full-time members or up to 20 part-timers. The cost will be $150 per month for a part-time membership and $350 per month for full-time. The space is expected to open in September, though it will depend on the status of the renovation work.
If I manage to get the coworking space named "The Banner" for the song in Newsies, Christian Bale will have no choice but to ask for my hand
— Alana Massey (@AlanaMassey) July 24, 2015
He recently posted an explanation of the project on Medium with the title “Proposal: A Brooklyn Journalist Coworking Space.”
The reception he received was remarkable, Chayka said, and though the space has yet to open, he’s toying with the idea of opening locations in other parts of Brooklyn as well.
“We came together as freelance writers and noticed we lacked a good space to work and strong community network,” he said. “Given the interest we received, I’m thinking that it would be nice to have a few different locations in Brooklyn. I think we definitely are facing a process.”
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