Austin Jenkins interviews University of Washington Professor Matt Powers on a new report, "Statehouse Journalism in Transition."
The number of reporters covering Washington state government has plummeted over the past two decades, raising concerns about the public’s access to critical legislative information. A recent report from the University of Washington found that the state’s full-time Capitol press corps shrank from 19 reporters in 2000 to just eight in 2023. The declining capitol press corps in Olympia is part of a broader trend of attrition and contraction in local news that has resulted in the collapse of hundreds of local newspapers and a growing number of U.S. counties becoming “news deserts.” Thanks to TVW for sharing this video. To watch this video and more on-demand, go to TVW.org.
