Newspapers cutting DC bureaus
David Johnson August 18th, 2008
Howard Kurtz inks and chats in the Washington Post on how local papers and publishing chains are turning off the lights at their Washington bureaus as part cost-cutting and putting more attention on local content. The pull quote here is: “Sometimes the local story isn’t sitting right here in your Zip code or area code,” says David Shribman, a former Washington bureau chief of the Boston Globe. Amen. While Kurtz is getting here today, some of us have been concerned about this for a while. Small and supplemental news services are getting cut to the bone as the bureaus have been shrinking for the past several years. We bang the local drum loudly now at Lost Remote, and the most important local story is how you and your community fit into your government. While there have been fewer eyes watching the federal city during this period, we are just starting to realize how much money has disappeared from the coffers. Pulling your Washington regionals to cover little league is not going to save the paper, folks, only hasten the demise.
9 Comments Add your own
1. tdc | August 18th, 2008 at 12:05 pm
‘what the heck was joe jackson singing about in 1979?’
click tdc
2. Howard Owens | August 18th, 2008 at 12:34 pm
Why all bow to DC?
There’s a political/philosophical aspect to this as well — too much attention to DC gives the federal government too much power … too often we look to the feds to solve our problems.
Look at how many communities were screwed up forever by Urban Renewal in in the 60s 70s and 80s. Big, overreaching federal program in the name of “progress,” that many local communities opposed at a grassroots level, but the powers that be (including the local newspapers) supported.
Maybe it’s time to suggest that the economic interest of the newspaper isn’t just in cost cutting, but in refocusing efforts on building community, and doing so from under the shadow of the federal government.
We, the media, make DC too important, which contributes to too much power, and people begin to think home and neighborhood just doesn’t matter as much as what they see on TV.
Is local journalism completely devoid of responsibility for that?
3. notbelievin | August 18th, 2008 at 12:35 pm
yeah? seriously, i’d like to hear from DC-based local journos before believing that… i know that i read my local paper for local content and hit the interweb for the national news.
4. Angela | August 18th, 2008 at 12:43 pm
This is where opportunity lies for some of the recently laid-off print journalists to band together and fill a void with an interesting and creative business venture. I wonder if at some point, those laid off journalists will become freelancers for their former employers once someone realizes that certain content is essential and they have to get it back.
5. David Johnson | August 18th, 2008 at 1:58 pm
@Howard: Consider this example — How many dollars did a given zip code pay in federal taxes last year and how many federally allocated dollars came into that zip code in projects, subsidies, earmarks and entitlement programs at the personal level?
Isn’t local journalism completely responsible for making sure a community’s citizens understand that balance sheet and how it impacts their daily lives?
And if it isn’t covered, how will the members of the affluent northeastern community feel about paying their taxes for a bridge to nowhere in Alaska, for example.
6. notbelievin | August 19th, 2008 at 12:14 pm
sure, cover it. but do you need a reporter IN washington DC for that? in this age of the internet and phones?
7. papergirl | August 21st, 2008 at 6:36 am
Local news isn’t just what happens within a particular area - it’s also about what affects that area. I’ve struggled to find out what our state and congressional delegations are up to beyond the columns and newsletters they throw my way.
Internet and phones are great but it’s hard to comprehend what’s going on if you’re not there. Who voted on what, how that earmark may help or hurt, what that massive transportation bill means for our bridges and roads - that’s local news, IMHO.
8. Anonymous | August 24th, 2008 at 3:41 am
@tdc…”Is She Really Going Out With Him?”
Look Sharp…Night and Day was 1980 and really it’s more like 1984 and “You Can’t Get What You Want (Till You Know What You Want)”
9. Anonymous | August 24th, 2008 at 3:48 am
Ah, now I look and while I don’t think it fits either I thank you for showing my that. I’ve never recalled seeing Joe with a full head of hair!
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