Statehouse Exodus

Consider all the issues taken up by the New Hampshire state legislature this session: there's gay marriage. Medical marijuana. Transgender rights. Repealing the death penalty. Not to mention budget cuts and tax increases to deal with an ongling economic crisis.

Yet only four full-time print reporters cover the statehouse: one each for The Concord Monitor, The Manchester Union-Leader, The Nashua Telegraph, and The Associated Press. There was a time when The Monitor had two full-timers there. Both Foster's Daily Democrat and The Lawrence Eagle-Tribune had desks there as well.

The exodus of journalists from local government beats is playing out across the country. American Journalism Review counted the number of full-time statehouse reporters, and found the number decreased by nearly a third since its last count in 2003. Struggling newspapers across the country pick up national wire copy rather than paying reporters to watch over state-level spending and politics.

Here to tell us more about what those numbers mean are Jennifer Dorroh, managing editor for American Journalism Review, and New Hampshire political columnist James Pindell. His new site, NHPoliticalReport.com, launches June 1st.

American Journalism Review: Statehouse Exodus

(Photo by J. Stephen Conn via Flickr/Creative Commons)