Transformation of the post-covid media ecosystem. Teleworking and the hybrid model as organisational innovation in newsrooms

The covid-19 pandemic accelerated the media's efforts to survive in an unprecedented crisis. In this context, teleworking, despite having existed for decades, stood out as an efficient solution to sustain organisational processes. This exploratory study analyses the impact of teleworking and the introduction of hybrid formulas in two newspaper companies in the Spanish market (eldiario.es and Heraldo de Aragon), once the toughest stage of the pandemic was overcome. Through participant observation and in-depth interviews with experts and media professionals, we investigate whether the new teleworking formulas are innovative and if they could be adopted in the future. The results reveal that the impact of telework on news organisations has been decisive, especially to reshape the way in which ideas are shared and workflows are established. The adaptability of the case studies to the new organisational models has been found to be high; however, there are some factors limiting their full adoption. The hybrid telework model has brought unprecedented organisational change to many newsrooms and has accelerated digital transformation. However, there is still some uncertainty, because even in those newspapers that are committed to the model, implementation is still being developed.