Battening Down The Hatches At TPM

[riversedge]

Wise choice. https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/tpm-closes-offices-for-covid-19



Battening Down The Hatches At TPM
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/tpm-closes-offices-for-covid-19


By David Kurtz
|
March 10, 2020 1:35 p.m.


Today is the last day TPM’s offices will be open for the foreseeable future. The entire staff, including the editorial, tech and business teams, will begin working remotely tomorrow.

We started making plans for this two weeks ago today, when the CDC held its sobering press conference warning businesses, schools and other institutions to begin preparing for the inevitable spread of COVID-19.

My anecdotal sense from friends and acquaintances is that a lot of companies were spurred to action by those CDC warnings. Those same warnings enflamed Trump and prompted much of the administration’s downplaying and downright misinforming about the public health threat. But at some level, the CDC’s message got through despite the White House and Trump. That’s not to give the Trump administration a pass. But it suggests to me that sophisticated stakeholders — institutions, state and local governments, and at least some employers — were able to pick up the signal amidst the noise. That there was any noise in the first place is unforgivable.

We had our first meeting the same day to begin making preparations. Two days later, we alerted staff to the possibility of extended remote work. Late last week, we decided to close our offices in New York City and Washington, D.C., beginning March 11.................................

[frazzled]

1. Well, they have the kind of business that can easily operate remotely

File your stories via email or google docs, have online meetings via Google Hangouts, etc.

Not so easy for an entire plethora of other businesses and workers.

[Pacifist Patriot]

2. I saw something that estimated the number of jobs in the US that could be done remotely is 30%.

And of those jobs, not all have the actual technological capability to work from home on a moment's notice.

Those of us with the luxury of having those types of jobs would be well served to keep in mind we've now got an entirely new type of social and economic privilege.