Report: The number of news organizations covering federal agencies has fallen since 2003

From AJR, June/July 2010 – Abandoned Agencies – The number of news organizations covering federal agencies has fallen since 2003, by Jodi Enda

  • “For the story, we interviewed journalists from specialty publications, many of which have sprung up on the Internet as newspapers closed or reduced the sizes of their Washington bureaus. However, since these specialty publications tend to target niche audiences rather than the general public, we did not include them in our charts. Here, we are interested in which outlets are putting out information to a large swath of the American public, not primarily to people who are involved in or interested in one issue. We also did not include journalists who cover Washington from afar. Some do, either because their newspapers no longer have bureaus in the capital or because they cover industries that federal agencies regulate. A number of these reporters do a very good job, and some investigate federal agencies and break stories in a way that Washington reporters do not. But these reporters tend to do more, much more, than cover one department or agency full time.”
  • Click to see an interactive chart and spreadsheet of news organizations covering federal agencies
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