{"id":233,"date":"2026-05-08T14:05:52","date_gmt":"2026-05-08T14:05:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=233"},"modified":"2026-05-08T14:05:52","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T14:05:52","slug":"disappearing-before-our-eyes-one-photographers-passion-project-of-capturing-local-newsrooms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=233","title":{"rendered":"Disappearing before our eyes: One photographer\u2019s passion project of capturing local newsrooms"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>NEW YORK<\/strong> | If you think the life of a journalist is glamorous, take a look at Ann Hermes\u2019 photograph of Tom Haley from a winter day in Rutland, Vermont.<\/p>\n<p>He scribbles in a notebook, leaning back in an office chair while dressed in ill-fitting khakis and a baseball cap. His left foot rests on the one portion of a desk not covered with clutter \u2014 piles of notebooks, a newspaper, printed reports and a lanyard hanging from a stray photograph. What could be a calendar hangs askew on the wall behind him. The drab blue carpet has seen better days.<\/p>\n<p>Hermes is fascinated by things that evoke a time gone by or are about to pass into history. She has photographed the last Morse code station operating in North America and department store photo booths. Lately, she\u2019s spent a lot of time in newsrooms like Haley\u2019s Rutland Herald.<\/p>\n<p>The Brooklyn-based photographer has. brought her camera into some 50 newsrooms across the United States, many in smaller towns and cities, to document places and lives endangered by the industry\u2019s collapse over the past few decades. Already one of the newspapers she\u2019s photographed, in Alameda, Calif., has shut down.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>And she\u2019s nowhere near done.<\/p>\n<p>Photographer didn\u2019t expect it to turn into a passion project<\/p>\n<p>Even as someone who spent time in newsrooms herself professionally \u2014 Hermes worked for several years at the Christian Science Monitor \u2014 she didn\u2019t anticipate it turning into such a passion project.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI love these spaces,\u201d she says. \u201cI love spending time with these people. The more time I spent in newsrooms and hearing about their difficulties of life, it took on a different agenda. I couldn\u2019t have spent so much of my free time on this if I didn\u2019t enjoy it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Her photos dispel the notion that journalism is a prestigious job populated by elitists \u2014 certainly not at the local level. Here are working people in shabby surroundings, places that would make an office designer shudder. Post-it notes hang from a computer monitor. Pens, notebooks, boxes of paper are thrown into a bookshelf next to a half-empty bottle of whiskey. A carpet stain is left untended. A bottle of antacid pills sits on top of a microwave.<\/p>\n<p>An empty metal organizer sits behind a sign saying, \u201cstories to be written,\u201d the product of a long-forgotten efficiency drive.<\/p>\n<p>The New Yorker\u2019s Zach Helfand captures it: \u201cNews people tend to pay their surroundings little mind. There\u2019s too much to do and always a deadline looming. What you see hanging around these rooms isn\u2019t designed but improvised, and more revealing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s not just newsrooms in danger of becoming obsolete. How often do you see newspapers anymore, particularly with news outlets shutting their printing presses and going digital? Yet they\u2019re everywhere in Hermes\u2019 photographs. Stuffed into cubbies, yellowing with age. A jumble of them in the back of a van. Stacked in piles \u2014 some toppled over, others on the verge. Some need to be stepped around.<\/p>\n<p>Still more are in newspaper \u201cmorgues,\u201d the term becoming more appropriate by the day. Cut-out articles are stuffed into cardboard files, the destination for research before the day most information could be found with a few computer strokes.<\/p>\n<p>The history of a community is in these morgues, however. And when they\u2019re gone, so are many of the memories contained within.<\/p>\n<p>A belief in a civic duty \u2014 with maybe some fun<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is really a love letter to local journalism,\u201d Hermes says. \u201cIt\u2019s not a \u2018gotcha\u2019 piece.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She\u2019s attracted to the \u201ctrue believers\u201d who stick with the line of work, putting up with the anger and ridicule of civic leaders who don\u2019t like their judgments questioned, and the business realities that have driven many of their friends into different lines of work.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe rewards are diminishing in doing this job,\u201d she says. \u201cYou have to really believe in the fundamental civic service that you are providing. Otherwise, why else would you do it? It\u2019s a really difficult job.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Her work is available to see on her website, and she hopes one day to collect her newsroom photos in a book. She feels she\u2019s gone beyond capturing images and into an advocacy role; she wants to do exhibitions in some of the communities that she\u2019s visited to remind people about the importance of local journalism.<\/p>\n<p>Hermes\u2019 goal is to photograph 100 newsrooms: \u201cI feel like I learn something new in every newsroom I visit.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>David Bauder writes about the intersection of media and entertainment for the AP. Follow him at http:\/\/x.com\/dbauder and https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/dbauder.bsky.social.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=228\">US lifts hold on immigration applications for doctors, but leaves others waiting<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=229\">Colorado bill exempts credit card fees on sales tax to save businesses money<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=231\">Here\u2019s how to grow your own food with less water, even in a drought<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>NEW YORK | If you think the life of a journalist is glamorous, take a look at Ann Hermes\u2019 photograph of Tom Haley from a winter day in Rutland, Vermont. He scribbles in a notebook, leaning back in an office chair while dressed in ill-fitting khakis and a baseball cap. His left foot rests on [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":232,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[149,1,148,135,139,152],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-233","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-a-town-magazine","category-interesting","category-magazine","category-no-apple-publish","category-other-galley","category-sentinel-lifestyle"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Disappearing before our eyes: One photographer\u2019s passion project of capturing local newsrooms - Denver Moving Chronicle<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=233\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Disappearing before our eyes: One photographer\u2019s passion project of capturing local newsrooms - Denver Moving Chronicle\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"NEW YORK | If you think the life of a journalist is glamorous, take a look at Ann Hermes\u2019 photograph of Tom Haley from a winter day in Rutland, Vermont. He scribbles in a notebook, leaning back in an office chair while dressed in ill-fitting khakis and a baseball cap. His left foot rests on [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=233\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Denver Moving Chronicle\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-08T14:05:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/182480bde27329c9ba1c4b4a53c0510b.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"682\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=233#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=233\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/860d8c9be7e4969f72ed251197548d9b\"},\"headline\":\"Disappearing before our eyes: One photographer\u2019s passion project of capturing local newsrooms\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-08T14:05:52+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=233\"},\"wordCount\":840,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=233#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/182480bde27329c9ba1c4b4a53c0510b.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"A-Town Magazine\",\"Interesting\",\"MAGAZINE\",\"No Apple Publish\",\"Other galley\",\"Sentinel Lifestyle\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=233#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=233\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=233\",\"name\":\"Disappearing before our eyes: One photographer\u2019s passion project of capturing local newsrooms - Denver Moving Chronicle\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=233#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=233#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/182480bde27329c9ba1c4b4a53c0510b.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-08T14:05:52+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/860d8c9be7e4969f72ed251197548d9b\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=233#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=233\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=233#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/182480bde27329c9ba1c4b4a53c0510b.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/182480bde27329c9ba1c4b4a53c0510b.jpg\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":682,\"caption\":\"This photo provided by Ann Hermes shows Louie Graffeo delivering copies of The Post-Gazette\u00a0for his girlfriend, publisher and editor, Pamela Donnaruma, in Boston on June 8, 2023. (Ann Hermes via AP)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=233#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Disappearing before our eyes: One photographer\u2019s passion project of capturing local newsrooms\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Denver Moving Chronicle\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/860d8c9be7e4969f72ed251197548d9b\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Disappearing before our eyes: One photographer\u2019s passion project of capturing local newsrooms - Denver Moving Chronicle","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=233","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Disappearing before our eyes: One photographer\u2019s passion project of capturing local newsrooms - Denver Moving Chronicle","og_description":"NEW YORK | If you think the life of a journalist is glamorous, take a look at Ann Hermes\u2019 photograph of Tom Haley from a winter day in Rutland, Vermont. He scribbles in a notebook, leaning back in an office chair while dressed in ill-fitting khakis and a baseball cap. His left foot rests on [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=233","og_site_name":"Denver Moving Chronicle","article_published_time":"2026-05-08T14:05:52+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":682,"url":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/182480bde27329c9ba1c4b4a53c0510b.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=233#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=233"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/#\/schema\/person\/860d8c9be7e4969f72ed251197548d9b"},"headline":"Disappearing before our eyes: One photographer\u2019s passion project of capturing local newsrooms","datePublished":"2026-05-08T14:05:52+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=233"},"wordCount":840,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=233#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/182480bde27329c9ba1c4b4a53c0510b.jpg","articleSection":["A-Town Magazine","Interesting","MAGAZINE","No Apple Publish","Other galley","Sentinel Lifestyle"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=233#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=233","url":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=233","name":"Disappearing before our eyes: One photographer\u2019s passion project of capturing local newsrooms - Denver Moving Chronicle","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=233#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=233#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/182480bde27329c9ba1c4b4a53c0510b.jpg","datePublished":"2026-05-08T14:05:52+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/#\/schema\/person\/860d8c9be7e4969f72ed251197548d9b"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=233#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=233"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=233#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/182480bde27329c9ba1c4b4a53c0510b.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/182480bde27329c9ba1c4b4a53c0510b.jpg","width":1024,"height":682,"caption":"This photo provided by Ann Hermes shows Louie Graffeo delivering copies of The Post-Gazette\u00a0for his girlfriend, publisher and editor, Pamela Donnaruma, in Boston on June 8, 2023. (Ann Hermes via AP)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=233#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Disappearing before our eyes: One photographer\u2019s passion project of capturing local newsrooms"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/","name":"Denver Moving Chronicle","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/#\/schema\/person\/860d8c9be7e4969f72ed251197548d9b","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com"],"url":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=233"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/232"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=233"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=233"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=233"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}