According to the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post is cutting back on office space in Virginia and Maryland:
“This is about office space, not personnel or coverage,” editors wrote in a memo to staff. The Post will retain existing bureaus in those states’ capitals, Richmond and Annapolis.
Amid revenue declines and losses in recent years, the paper’s owner, Washington Post Co., has shed jobs, closed regional bureaus and narrowed the Post’s coverage, focusing it primarily on Washington. In late 2009 the Post closed its bureaus in Chicago, Los Angeles and New York. Though the paper has trimmed losses considerably, it continues to grapple with ad declines.
The decline of the mainstream media has been one of the most dramatic social changes of the past decade. The culprits are familiar — websites like Craigslist have cut into a significant source of newspaper revenue, while cheap and convenient access to news online has lowered the price of news and commentary even in major newspapers.
But the reality is that the world’s need for fast and accurate reporting, and for smart commentary that helps make sense of the news is growing, not shrinking. The legacy press has a lot of work to do as it adjusts to a changing media marketplace, but there are good livings to be made in the news business.
I hope.
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