After more than 100 years as a Downtown presence, 22 of those years as our neighbor, reports from The Richmond Times-Dispatch indicate that the daily newspaper is leaving its Richmond office behind. 

A published report from last Thursday stated the office will close by April 2025. Presently, the newspaper’s operations take up a floor of the 172,110-square-foot building that the paper’s parent company sold to Shamin Hotels in 2020 and leased from them. The next tenants of the building, which take up an entire block, are expected to be the city’s Department of Social Services.

While news of the paper’s abandonment of its city office merited only a brief article on their website, there’s a lot to unpack here. Declining readership, the pandemic and the prevalence of remote workers have changed the newspaper business. Working from home has shown us the hard fact — there’s no news in the newsroom. The story is outside. The idea that there needs to be a central location for a news gathering organization, at times, seems as antiquated as the Selectric typewriters and cigarette smoke that once wafted through newsrooms. 

Some may wax nostalgic about newsroom banter and shoptalk from yesteryear, but most of the stuff that was said out loud back then will have you in an HR office today or sitting on the sidewalk with a cardboard box. The good ol’ days weren’t always good.

The daily isn’t the first publication that bears the city’s name to pack up and walk out. Lifestyle publication Richmond magazine moved to a Henrico office building in 2021. What’s happening?

Maybe the rent is too high. Print publications aren’t the only business who have sought more comfortable spaces outside the city limits. Besides the Richmond Free Press staying put, another exception to the media exodus also made itself known the same day we heard our neighbor was hitting the road.

Last week, Virginia Public Media held a block party beneath a large tent to celebrate the start of construction of new headquarters in Downtown. Construction officially began Monday and is expected to be completed in 2026.

The departure of long-standing media institutions from the city marks the end of an era and signals an evolving media landscape. The shift reflects changes in how news is gathered, produced and consumed these days. We applaud Virginia Public Media’s investment in a physical space Downtown, showing that there’s value in having a presence in the heart of the community they serve.

Regardless of where newsrooms are physically located, the challenge remains the same — to maintain strong local journalism and community engagement. The future of media in Richmond will look different from its past and we’re here for it.