in this interesting piece on the rapidly-declining number of mainstream reporters in Washington–
The Bloomberg News bureau has expanded in recent years, and a few
Internet sources, like Politico, are still expanding, but the number of
journalists added is a fraction of the number lost….
Few newspapers travel with the president now â only three or four on
some trips â where a dozen would have been the bare minimum a few years
ago. For those that still participate, the shared cost of travel and
the rotating burden of providing pool reports has soared. The Senate
press gallery was recently remodeled in a way that left room for fewer
reportersâ carrels, and no one complained.
definitive figures on the number of newspaper reporters covering
Washington, but the decline has been clear, and it runs counter to
history, said Donald A. Ritchie, associate Senate historian
As in all these matters, the issue is, How well-informed are the people? And I would say, generally, that the amount of information coming out of Washington increases by the day. Are the old experts in decline? Yes. Is there a loss? Of course. Is there a gain? That, too; how were all those old experts on the Iraq War? Not very good. Are there consequences of being so wrong? Yeah, mon.
Reminds me of the endless laments you used to hear all the time on the Decline of Writing. People don't write letters anymore! Wringing of hands. When people are writing more letters than ever: emails. And kids are writing constantly–texting, with their unseen hand, when they are pretending to have a conversation with you…
