Everyone who reads a newspaper -- a very small number of people apparently -- is aware of a major down-sizing in that industry.

There was an excellent column by Marc Fisher of the Post today (Sunday) on that topic.  Ironically, his column dovetailed with front page news about the closing of the Denver Post, a major daily.

Ground zero is state politics.  When I arrived in Richmond in January 2002, you could find reporters everywhere in the Capitol.  There were Mike Shear and the legendary R.J. Melton of the Post, Dan Drummond of the Washington Times, Bob Gibson of the Charlottesville Daily Progress, Tyler Whitley of the Richmond Times Dispatch, Christine Nuckols of the Virginian-Pilot. 

And on and on.

And this doesn't begin to address the local reporters there.  My recollection was talking to reporters from Danville, Lynchburg, Fredericksburg, and so on.  Even the Fairfax Journal had a full-time reporter (Mike Niebauer, I think). 

Even junior Delegates like myself could get some decent publicity.  And that spun over to other mediums.  One of my favorite memories is appearing on a call-in show for the old WMAL while standing in the House cloakroom during a recess.

That is rapidly going away.  The Capitol press corps is now down to a dozen reporters (max).  No reporter from a Fairfax County paper is down here full-time.  If we're lucky, they print our letters to the editor occasionally. 

It's not that there's less interest.  The amount of campaign spending has exploded in the past decade (my first House race I barely raised $100K).  And there are lobbyists everywhere now.  I would estimate, at a minimum, there are 200 registered lobbyists now working the Capitol at any one time, which is double my first session.  So somebody obviously still cares what we do.

Should anyone care if news reporting dies out?

That's a great question.  Not everyone is obsessed by the state legislature.  However, on a day-to-day basis, it has more impact on the lives of Virginians than any other political body.  We write  the criminal laws,  the health laws, the divorce laws.  We shape and fund public education.  We plan and build highways. 

While press coverage dwindles in Richmond, the content inevitably "dumbs down."  I'll give an example:

This year I filed over forty pieces of legislation.  Some bills were significant, including my efforts to redefine the felony threshold or limit state energy usage.  I also authored an amendment to the state constitution which may revolutionize "green buildings" in Virginia.  That passed both the House and Senate unanimously. 

No mention in the press at all. 

Ironically, the only bill I had "newsworthy" was the "Eastern box turtle" resolution which was, by definition, a purely symbolic measure and became the subject of several whimsical editorials by the RTD.  Absolutely fair game -- but what about mentioning my environmental bills?

This is not sour grapes.  Some years you get good press, some years bad press, and some years strange press.  You stick with what you're doing and keep communicating with your constituents.  That's the only audience that matters.  BUt it's a shame that the only news my constituents get -- is from me. 

What about blogs?

Great question.  Blogs are critical in Virginia because they do give the day-to-day coverage of political affairs, albeit from a partisan or sensationalist perspective.  The interactive format gives everyone a fighting change.  If you don't like them, you can start your own. 

But bloggers are not full-time reporters (usually) and just don't have the time to be in Richmond each day covering the state issues.  There's a need for press that extends beyond just a paragraph reporting the latest scandal or YouTube debacle.

We need daily reporters.