This is a uniquely challenging time to be a reporter covering District of Columbia news and government, panelists agreed at a May 4 Society of Professional Journalists event. All three panelists said that they have witnessed a dwindling number of local reporters writing about District issues. That translates to fewer stories, fewer hearings covered and more left uncovered, said the panelists in Q&A with Eric Falquero, editor-in-chief of the District’s Street Sense newspaper.
At some D.C. government events and news briefings, there may only be a single reporter, said Aaron Davis, who covers District government for the Washington Post, and Cuneyt Dil, a freelancer for the District’s Current newspapers who started his own five-day-a-week e-newsletter on local government and political new: District Links.
“So many people have left journalism” in the eight years Kavitha Cardoza has been here, she said. “I’m the person covering education for the longest“ in the District, said Cardoza, who covers education for WAMU(FM) Washington. She compared Washington to Springfield, Illinois, where she worked and where she said some fellow reporters had covered the state government for two decades. “That’s one of the downsides, when they don’t have that time” to dig more or do more stories “with the same level of scrutiny,” Cardoza said of her current city.
“There are just so many stories, so many neighborhood stories, that don’t get covered,” said Dil. “There are less resources to take a longer approach or do a sort of investigative piece.” Yet it’s not all bad news for D.C. journalists — and by extension their audience. Dil compared the city to Baltimore, saying that the District has more news resources. “D.C. local journalism is still pretty strong,” he said, noting that the Washington City Paper writes about five stories daily. “I am never at a loss for stories.”
Reporters looking to cover District government or switch jobs also can take solace in WAMU, which is hiring several journalists and creating regional beats, according to Cardoza. And the Washington Post, which used to have three District government reporters and now has only one in Davis, is looking to hire a second, he said.
Video streamed live through Periscope, recorded by Eric Falquero at The Fund for American Studies.
This post, by Jonathan Make, appeared first on Medium.com and has been republished here with permission.
