Add the venerable St. Petersburg Times to the list of newspapers that have cut their circulation and coverage outside their metropolitan areas -- and to a shorter list of those that have had the guts to allow a ranking employee to bemoan it in print.
Two weeks ago, the paper stopped circulating in the state capital of Tallahassee, and its news bureau there is down to three full-time reporters, plus senior correspondent Lucy Morgan, reports Bureau Chief Steve Bousquet. "That's down from four a year ago (what this bureau chief calls 'a 25 percent cutback' to his bosses)," he writes with just the right hint of indignation. The paper is owned by The Poynter Institute, but is not immune from financial pressures caused by declining print circulation and advertising.
Other big Florida papers have cut back, too. After citing chapter and verse, Bousquet writes, "Fewer reporters means more reliance on Associated Press stories, which are serviceable but can't possibly be tailored to regional differences. Fewer reporters mean fewer people to monitor lawmakers and encourage them to pay attention to problems back home." His column is headlined "We're losing a leash on legislators."
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