When the Watchdogs Don’t Bark

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Connecticut has 169 cities and towns; New Jersey has 566 municipalities. With government stacked up like layers of a wedding cake, the states need all the news coverage they can get, especially during a time of huge budget cuts. Unfortunately, the sour economy is also choking local news-gathering.

The Tribune Company’s bankruptcy-court filing affects WTIC-TV, based in Hartford, which broadcasts nightly local news, and Connecticut’s largest newspaper, The Hartford Courant, where the most recent cuts in July reduced pages and staff by 25 percent. News of the Tribune bankruptcy followed the announcement by the Journal Register Company that it would close two of the five daily newspapers that it owns in Connecticut — The Herald of New Britain and The Bristol Press — and some or all of the 13 weekly newspapers it owns in the state unless it finds buyers.

The Tribune Company’s troubles are in good part because of the large debt Samuel Zell incurred when he bought the business. But the economic downturn and the Internet’s inroads on print advertising have taken a toll on all newspapers.

In New Jersey, The Star-Ledger of Newark is letting 151 employees go after they accepted buyouts, including what was the entire opinion page staff. The Record of Hackensack plans to move out of its headquarters and is already encouraging reporters to work from home. The Asbury Park Press has endured three rounds of layoffs this year. The Times’s regional coverage has been reduced, too.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/31/opinion/31wed3.html?th&emc=th