US: Local papers reducing Washington reporting

Posted by Emma Heald on December 19, 2008 at 10:15 AM

Cox, publisher of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Austin American-Statesman and 15 other papers, was the latest in string of publishers to announce that it would be closing its Washington bureau.

Cox's bureau will not close until April 1 but others such as Advance Publications, owner of The Star-Ledger of Newark amongst others, and Copley Press, owner of The San Diego Union-Tribune, have already closed. And many who remain have significantly cut back on both Washington staff and coverage. The Tribune Company has merged the bureaus of its various papers, reducing staff numbers to 32 compared with 70 a year ago.

This may seem surprising considering the upcoming inauguration of an eagerly anticipated new president, but in light of newspapers' severe financial difficulties, many are choosing to focus on local coverage rather than national or international events, as the latter can always be more easily found online. Besides, bureaus in Washington are expensive.

Coverage of major events is unlikely to suffer. The recent partnership established between Reuters and Politico means that they will have more than 120 Washington-based journalists reporting full time by January, and other large news gatherers such as The Associated Press, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal have maintained or even increased their staff numbers, guaranteeing sufficient reporting on national events.

But Washington reporting on local matters will undoubtedly suffer. There will be fewer in-depth and investigative projects, for example into corrupt backbench congressmen, which have been crucial in the past in allowing local newspapers to act as a watchdog on political practices. George Condon, former Washington bureau chief for The San Diego Union-Tribune, said it was a "real tragedy" that nobody would be "watching the congressional delegation".

Alan Abbey, writing for Poynter Online, took a more positive take on the news. He pointed out that this reduction in Washington journalists and subsequent gap in the market for "local angle" Washington coverage is a "major opportunity" for small Web 2.0 journalism organizations to seize, as there will be many experienced Washington journalists out of work, and a vast amount of news to cover.

Source: New York Times, American Journalism Review, Poynter Online