The new Rogue Valley Times sign at 2 E. Main St. in downtown Medford.

The call came in early — well, actually, it was a Slack message.

There were maintenance issues at the office, and it was advised that people work from home. 

It’s 2024, and I doubt anyone in the Rogue Valley Times newsroom even batted an eye on Friday.

Photographers already had their set assignments. Jamie Lusch was out in the woods above Ashland watching people cut down trees for a future story, and Andy Atkinson had the plum job of snapping spring break skiers and snowboarders at Mt. Ashland Ski Area.

The rest of the staff were told to hold off from driving in to work and instead were directed to plug in from home; the morning meeting where we go over stories was canceled in lieu of Slack messages, phone calls and emails letting the editor know what reporters were working on for the day.

Just about four years ago, I was sitting alone in a nearly empty office building at a former Medford newspaper. Newsroom staff — really every single employee except for our wonderful mail room and press workers who came in each night to roll the paper off the presses and deliver it to subscribers — was instructed to work from home as we all learned what a “coronavirus” was and this new thing called COVID-19 spread across the planet. I came to work each day for nearly a year and half after that because my workstation had everything I needed, and no one else was around for me to worry about catching something or them catching something from me.

We produced a print newspaper and a full-service website the entire time. Specifically for the newsroom, reporters social distanced out on assignments, often if not always wearing masks. Then they filed from home. Photographers were taken off local sports assignments because things were canceled, and they were funneled to other shoots, filing their photos remotely. Advertising reps and circulation workers still got their jobs done each day amid the uncertainty. It became routine.

And then it was over, and we (they) all came back.

Friday at the Times was no different in the operation of news-gathering, story filing, editing and the rest, except no one had a mask around anywhere they could find it. Where is yours?

Our cops and courts reporter Kevin Opsahl dutifully listened to the police scanner from home while he wrote about other subjects. Stories were filed by reporters Nick Morgan and Shaun Hall. Our Features Editor Alissa Corman and I did what we always do on Fridays (and Mondays and Wednesdays) — proofed EO Media Group-designed pages for the Times’ Saturday print edition, which you might have close by.

Throw in breaking news about Oregon State’s women advancing to the NCAA Tournament Elite 8, and it was a full day.

It all went like clockwork, nothing seemingly out of the ordinary except for the nearly constant Slack messaging alerts coming from every direction. When you’re in a newsroom and you can swivel your chair to ask a nearby reporter or editor a question in a lowered tone, it’s easier. But this was doable, and everything got done.

Remote work became common during the pandemic, and it remains common today as workers somewhat resist coming back to “the office” because they can usually handle everything from home.

But at a newspaper, it’s always better to have everyone in one room, where ideas can be shared, problems can be solved and decisions can be made.

It’s why I hope the office reopens again on Monday.

If you are a subscriber, we thank you. If you haven’t subscribed to the Times, which can include digital-only or a full print edition/digital subscription, we invite you to sign up at http://rv-times.com/subscribe or by calling us at 800-781-3214.

— Troy Heie, editor