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January 21, 2009 06:19 PM UTC

Capitol Press Corps Loses Key Veteran

  • 10 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols

From the Colorado Independent:

The number of reporters covering the Colorado Capitol continues to drop as Charles Ashby, Denver bureau chief for The Pueblo Chieftain, received word Tuesday that he would be laid off.

Ashby will continue reporting from the statehouse through the legislative session, Chieftain managing editor Steve Henson told the Colorado Independent on Tuesday afternoon. He has covered the Capitol for the Chieftain since 2005 and was the Durango Herald’s state legislative reporter for seven sessions before that.

The Chieftain, plans to “keep our presence there (in Denver)” after Ashby’s departure, Henson said, but he wasn’t sure whether the newspaper would use stringers or send reporters up from Pueblo on occasion. “It’s up in the air,” Henson said. “We’re in freefall right now.”

Ashby is the sixth employee laid off since the beginning of the year at the family-owned Chieftain, though his is only the second editorial position cut, Henson said. The newspaper has cut eight newsroom positions through attrition the last few years years, he said. “We’re about 20 percent down, and I don’t see an end.”

Ashby’s downsizing was also noted by the Denver Post’s Politics West. Didn’t see a mention in the Rocky Mountain News, though, no doubt because they have their own problems. Just another waypoint in a long death march for local political media coverage, the lasting harm being done no longer needing a restatement every time there’s a fresh example.

Suffice to say that lots of people will be sorry to see Ashby go.

Comments

10 thoughts on “Capitol Press Corps Loses Key Veteran

    1. The AP is supported by its member papers and broadcasters. It has reporters at the Capitol.

      But there are 100 legislators, many committee meetings every day and lots happening at the same time.

      There needs to be more reporters there, not fewer.

      1. At Microsoft they had an infamous memo titled “Shrimp not weenies” and in it had the statement “when a project absolutely, positively requires 5 people – 4 will be assigned to it.” The point here was both that projects tend to be overstaffed and that this was the one way to truly only do what was absolutely necessary.

        Yes you will get some more stories with more people there. But the question is not what is preferable to the few political junkies like us. The question is what makes the most sense economically for those selling the news.

      1. but they are on their way out as papers drop them. A lot of their material is stuff from the reporters in their member papers. They also have their own reporters but that business is being downsized as papers drop from AP.

        Also, the basic issue comes back – papers find value in having their own reporter there as they can direct them and select who it is. If 3 or 4 papers share a person, they retain those advantages – mostly.

  1. There was a very interesting article today (1/21) in the RMN by David Milstead about the DP being in trouble. It’s pretty much accepted that the RMN will be history in a few months. What’s eye opening is that Milstead states that both the RMN and the DP are worthless.

    Understand that no one will have to pay anything for the paper. In the current setup, with the Rocky and The Post splitting agency profits before paying for their newsrooms, both papers are now losing millions of dollars a year. As part of their joint operating agreement, both papers are worse than worthless, since there’s negative value to an unending stream of future losses.  Milstead

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