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Washington Post to Close National Bureau Offices

By Jeralyn, Section Media
Posted on Tue Nov 24, 2009 at 06:06:33 PM EST
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The Washington Post announced today it will close its bureaus in LA, NY, and Chicago on Dec. 31.

"At a time of limited resources and increased competitive pressure, it's necessary to concentrate our journalistic firepower on our central mission of covering Washington and the news, trends and ideas that shape both the region and the country's politics, policies and government," the newspaper's top editor, Marcus Brauchli, wrote in a memo to employees that was obtained by Reuters. ..."We are not a national news organization of record serving a general audience. Nor are we a wire service or a cable channel," Brauchli told the Post's media columnist and reporter Howard Kurtz.

The Post says "We will continue to cover events around the country as we have for decades, by sending reporters into the field." What about international events-- will it still cover those? What about big trials -- will it still dispatch reporters to courthouses outside D.C.?

These are indeed tough times for newspapers.

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    Washington Post to Close National Bureau Offices | 4 comments (4 topical)

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    They still have 16 foreign bureaus (5.00 / 1) (#4)
    by MikeDitto on Wed Nov 25, 2009 at 01:43:24 AM EST
    But the closing of the national bureaus just solidifies the beltway bubble. There are tens of thousands of Capitol Hill staff who get their news from the Washington Post, and their perspective on the outside world is going to be ever more constricted.

    Mixed feelings (none / 0) (#1)
    by lentinel on Tue Nov 24, 2009 at 06:14:50 PM EST
    The Washington Post encouraged the war in Iraq.
    I began to dislike it around that time.
    It's treatment of Hillary Clinton was contemptible.

    So I stopped reading it.

    The Post I once respected died awhile ago.

    So now the Post will become something else.
    It would be nice if it were to become a good newspaper again.

    It doesn't actually matter what the real news is (none / 0) (#2)
    by steviez314 on Tue Nov 24, 2009 at 06:28:11 PM EST
    in the outisde world.  The WaPo will just quote a Dem and a Repub on the "politics" of it.

    The Washington Post (none / 0) (#3)
    by Radiowalla on Tue Nov 24, 2009 at 06:46:14 PM EST
    missed many opportunities over the years to market itself as a national newspaper.  Out on the west coast,  it was nearly impossible to find a copy of it, even at large newsstands.  I finally gave up trying.  On the other hand, the NYTimes pushed into the market and now, hallelujah, we have home delivery.  Without the Times, we'd be stuck with only the increasingly  pathetic SF Chron.

    It's always sad to see a formerly great  newpaper wither up and die, but I fear the Washington Post has been self-destructing for decades.

    Washington Post to Close National Bureau Offices | 4 comments (4 topical)

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