In an interview with the American Journalism Review, Star-Ledger editor Jim Willse says he's not sure he'll replace Washington,D.C.-based reporters Scott Orr and Robert Cohen, who both took buyouts.
"Frankly, the delegation doesn't produce enough news to keep two reporters busy," Willse told AJR editor Jennifer Dorroh about the fifteen New Jerseyans who serve in Congress.
Here's the New Jersey section in the AJR story:
Both of the Washington reporters for Newark's Star-Ledger, another Newhouse property, accepted buyouts as part of major cutbacks at the paper. At AJR's deadline, it was unclear whether they would be replaced, but it seemed unlikely. "Until we're sure who still works here, we're not really in a great position to decide any of the beats, including Washington," says Editor Jim Willse.He says not much will be lost in terms of covering specific members of Congress, since the paper decided several years ago to forego comprehensive reporting on the delegation in favor of beat coverage. Scott Orr covered technology and Robert Cohen tracked the Food and Drug Administration and the pharmaceutical industry. Both beats are important to New Jersey. "Frankly, the delegation doesn't produce enough news to keep two reporters busy," Willse says. "In our case, I would say that less than 20 percent of their work time was devoted to a kind of classic regional reporting. But pharmaceuticals is a big local industry, so in a sense it's regional reporting."
Willse says he wasn't eager to reduce coverage of Washington, where the Star-Ledger has had two reporters throughout his 13-year tenure at the paper. "Anytime you have a reporter who produces a lot of good stories and then leaves, you lose all of those stories. Both of them were extremely productive, and we're going confront that in a number of areas, not just Washington. We're going to have to find out how to compensate for that loss."
Morning News Digest: May 24, 2012By Missy RebovichTry State Street Wire, Follow PolitickerNJ on Twitter and Facebook. Text "PNJ" to 89800 to receive alerts In News 12 debate in Teaneck, Pascrell hounds Rothman on decision not to face Garrett After diving into a five-month slugfest...
A fundraiser for embattled Hamilton Mayor John Bencivengo has been cancelled, according to a source close to event coordinator Bob Mule.
Read More >By Roberto Muñiz The NJ Department of Health and Human Services has documented the many financial abuses in the adult day care system, reporting numerous providers who have scammed Medicaid to reap small fortunes off the backs of taxpayers. Negative... Read More >
Visit the PolitickerNJ.com/resources page for links to the best collection of information on New Jersey state government.
"Wow." - U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-9), in response to U.S. Rep. Steve Rothman's assertion that Pascrell could have moved out of the district to challenge U.S. Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen.
- PolitickerNJ.com
Press releases are submitted by PolitickerNJ users, not by staff. They do not represent the viewpoint of PolitickerNJ.com.