Visitors to the Times’ new London Bridge offices could be forgiven for believing that along with its move, the Murdoch broadsheet has ditched its digital strategy in favour of a more traditional approach to newsgathering: tapping out copy on manual typewriters.
But they’d be wrong. The publication, at the behest of its editor, is having the tapping noise of old-fashioned typewriters piped into its newsroom every now and again through a big speaker.
The retro clatter is intended to boost the energy of Times journalists as they type, therefore motivating them to hit their deadlines. The noise starts off soft and slow and then apparently builds to a crescendo of typing, apparently in a trial to see if it will help reporters work faster.
The paper’s diary editor Patrick Kidd told the BBC’s Today programme this morning that the noise was unexpected: “suddenly it was playing in the background over loudspeakers… [it’s our] editor’s wish to pay respect to our history.”
He said at first he found this “nod to our history” to be “mildly irritating” but now finds it “soothing” and on a busy day found himself typing in rhythm to the sounds.
Kidd also expressed his hope that the clatter of old typewriters might signal a return of the “stale smell of cigarette smoke” and the “three-bottle lunch”.
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