Media General, parent company of newspapers in Richmond, Charlottesville, Lynchburg, Danville, Bristol and several smaller Virginia communities, has reported that 3Q revenues and earnings will far short of targets. I cannot imagine a scenario in which the news gathering function at these newspapers does not suffer.

Publishing division revenues in August increased only 2.9 percent, considerably short of the five or six percent anticipated. According to a Media General press release issued today, the disappointing revenue outlook reflected weakness in “retail” advertising and circulation. (In other words, newspapers continue to lose readers), as well as higher-than-expected expenses.

If Media General remains true to form, it will issue emergency edicts to all operating units to cut costs by clamping down on new hires, curtailing travel, saving paperclips, etc. Enjoying no exemption, newsrooms may be tempted to reduce staff through attrition. The trends affecting Media General apply also to Landmark Communications (owner of the Norfolk and Roanoke newspapers), the Washington Post and the independents.

I agree with comments on my previous “Who Will Report the News” post that the Internet, laptops and other technology have improved newsroom productivity. But I maintain that reporting and writing remains a labor-intensive business. The only meaningful way to contain costs is to reduce pay (a real morale killer) or tighten staff size. Virginia’s journalistic future (in which I take no pleasure, not even schadenfreude, trust me): Fewer enterprise stories, fewer in-depth pieces, more rewriting of press releases, and more he said/she said reporting.