We’re going to leave 2100 Q St.
By this time next year, we will have said goodbye to stained carpets and an escalator that works on Tuesdays from 8:30 a.m. to noon. To our sturdy, reliable presses and halls filled with Pulitzer Prizes and the midtown Sacramento newsroom, where journalists pulled countless all-nighters for elections and major breaking news.
In recent years, the sprawling campus was equal parts museum and 24-hour news operation. And as COVID-19 has made working remotely the default for employees who are fortunate enough to do so, we, too, are adapting.
Most of us have been working from our kitchen tables or spare bedrooms since mid-March and our reach has never been greater, with more than 15 million visits to our website each month. And, we are grateful to those who have continued to print the paper and ensure its delivery during this time, serving as essential workers each day.
Yet to pivot is nothing new for news organizations, which must continue to adapt. We do so when we move from live video wildfire coverage to designing a Sunday front page with 10,000 coffins in memorial of those in California who died from coronavirus.
We are serving you by being nimble, following the most significant news of the day with contextual and high-utility reporting. And it’s critical that our 50-plus journalists and those who support them — lawyers who pry records from public officials, our HR folks who help us navigate mental health services during a challenging time — are positioned for success in the years ahead.
Leave summer 2021
We will leave The Bee building next summer, a decision that allows us to neutralize some declines in ad revenue as we move into a smaller space better suited to our needs. There will be no material change to your experience, we have no plans to change delivery times or the days of the week that your paper is printed.
The newsroom and others will relocate to a new space in Sacramento, one that meets our evolving needs, when it is safe. We expect this space to be dynamic, to be a destination for creatives in our community as we rebuild the social infrastructure that has been deeply impacted by our appropriate response to COVID-19.
Sacramento Bee special section, May 13, 1952
Our printing will be moved over time to partners in Northern California. We are deeply grateful to the pressroom employees who for decades have faithfully published The Bee. Their service has meant millions, over time, received critical news and information.
Today we are all facing significant uncertainty. We know our lives and our communities will continue to change. So it becomes clear that we must be proactive and thoughtful as we do so.
Committed to local news
We will continue our evolution. This month we reached 30,000 digital subscribers, thanks to support from loyal readers, and we are halfway to our goal of 60,000. We have learned how to be nimble, to learn where you want to be and meet you there.
Since the start of the pandemic, we’ve kept all journalists on the job. No salary reductions, no layoffs and no furloughs. We are a larger newsroom than we were this time a year ago.
We added four journalists who are reporting on issues of equity in Sacramento. We’ve done this in large part because you have continued to support The Bee.
We’re grateful. And we look forward to connecting with you soon — on sacbee.com, at one of our upcoming virtual events or in the printed paper with our photos and stories.
Lauren Gustus is president and editor of The Sacramento Bee and McClatchy’s regional editor for the West. She’s also leading the company’s community-funding effort. You can find her at [email protected] or on Twitter @laurengustus .
