This was the result of a complex and crucial move to an enormous space above London’s Victoria Station, according to William Lews, Editor-in-Chief of The Daily Telegraph in the UK.

His presentation was part of a panel on the integration of print and online newsrooms at the 14th World Editors Forum in Cape Town today.

The integration of The Daily Telegraph’s newsroom was critical to the newspaper’s ability to meet consumer demand. The “radical” move from a multi-level storey setting to the biggest open plan, single level office space in central London was a “crucial change” according to Lewis.

Lewis said that although staff began the move with reluctance, with sufficient training they began to appreciate the variety of things they could do with greater ease in an integrated newsroom.

Journalists and staff sit under screens that project the website’s homepage, which is constantly updated. There are also screens that display the popularity of stories by the number of hits they receive, on an hourly, daily, monthly and quarterly basis.

Lewis says that this reminded staff of the relevance and popularity of the content they were producing.

The new office plan, organised around a “hub and spoke system”, has brought a new energy to the newsroom. Lewis also said that he felt they produced a better product “by working in an integrated way”.

Lewis also said that the use of a pilot project before the actual move helped lend credibility to the relevance of the move. He said that staff required intense training and constant communication with management to cope with the move to an integrated newsroom. He said that the tremendous growth of the website had illustrated the importance of the move.

By Jackie Bischof, Wits University Journalism