NPR has an interesting piece on a small ad agency in New York that has opened its doors to those in the profession who are looking for work. The job seekers get a place to research job opportunities and a place to network. The ad agency gets more sounding boards for new ideas and, occasionally, more new ideas from the job seekers.
Seems like a model some newsrooms, with plenty of extra desk space these days, should entertain.
Corporate HR departments would probably provide the wet blanket with some lame policy about non-employees using company equipment, but if not, it could be a cool coexistence with working journalists bouncing ideas off job-seeking journalists for stories they are reporting and vice versa.
Several people have floated the idea of newsroom cafes as a way to open up newsrooms to conversation in the community. How about a shared workspace, which has worked for years with technology and other creative professionals? Job-seeking journalists wouldn’t be able to afford a monthly rent, so tap their expertise and get back some of the brain power lost in the last round of layoffs.