In Trying Times, Papers Retreat From Washington

IN TRYING TIMES, PAPERS RETREAT FROM WASHINGTON
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Katharine Seelye]
Faced with declining advertising revenues and competition from the Web, midsize, regional dailies across the country have been retrenching in recent years to focus on local news. That has scaled back their Washington coverage, and their national ambitions. Journalists generally lament such cuts, saying they can lead to generic articles from news services and less investigative or original reporting. But some say the cuts are useful because they mean less redundancy and can force a smarter use of resources, since newspapers long ago lost their monopoly on the Washington scoop. Unlike in most cities, events all over the highly wired capital are broadcast live and transcripts are instantly available. Congressional committees Webcast their hearings. Scores of industry newsletters track incremental steps in legislation. The Supreme Court releases same-day audio recordings of some cases. Public-interest groups do original research and are making raw data available on the Web.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/08/business/media/08bureau.html
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