DC Reductions

The NY Times has picked up on a trend many are seeing in the media industry: The shuttering of news bureaus and cutbacks in Washington-based correspondents. Richard Perez-Pena describes the trend in a piece this week, noting that the cuts (both in DC and at home organizations) come at a time of increased change and need for scrutiny in Washington: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/18/business/media/18bureaus.html?partner=permalink&exprod=permalink.

The troublesome trend comes on the heels of a McCormick-funded study, conducted by Arizona State University's Cronkite School and UNITY, that noted only about 13 percent of the Washington daily newspaper press corps are journalists of color. Though this was slightly higher than a study in 2004, it was conducted in early 2008 so the diversity may have decreased since then. For more on the study, http://cronkite.asu.edu/news/diversity-072408.php.