According to an article in today’s Virginian-Pilot, WHRO, Hampton Roads’ public television station, has cut its staff from 103 to 79 — 23 percent — over the past four years. Departed employees include engineers, announcers, fundraisers and producers, some with 20-plus years of service. Reports the Pilot: “Critics say the station has hollowed out its capability to produce local programming, which they view as central to its public mission.”
I suspect that WHRO is not alone. The Mainstream Media, both broadcast and newspapers, suffer tremendous cost-cutting pressures as audiences slowly shrink, advertising revenues stagnate and media corporations seek to prop up profit margins to appease shareholders. I would hypothesize that the newsrooms of Virginia’s newspapers and television stations — at least those outside of fast-growing markets in Northern Virginia — are smaller today than they were 10 years ago. Does anyone have any hard data to confirm or falsify that?
If I’m right, and if the trends continue, and if newsroom expenses continue to get cut — and how can they not, with the Internet and Cable TV continuing to drain audiences — who will report the community the news? Are we witnessing the decline of the Golden Age of American journalism? Or will the Internet find a business model to support news coverage of its own, and step in to fill the void?
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