07/17/14: What we’re missing from reporterless Richmond

This op-ed appeared in The Virginian-Pilot on the date shown.

IN A STUDY released last week, the Pew Research Journalism Project documented the decline in the number of reporters covering state legislatures. Since 2003, the number of full-time statehouse reporters has dropped 35 percent.

It is no wonder, then, that more and more of our news is about national issues and that our state legislatures are increasingly looking like Washington.

The Pew report (available at http://vjp.me/1kvDbfA), is a stark reminder of what we have lost as newspaper staffs have gotten smaller; full-time newsroom staffs decreased 30 percent between 2003 and 2012, with more losses since. Even so, newspapers provide the largest portion of all statehouse reporters.

Attempts to fill the gap have come from sources outside of traditional mainstream media. Pew identifies four categories: nonprofit, government insider or those aimed at government insiders, ideological and for-profit. About one-sixth of statehouse reporters work for nontraditional media outlets. Most of that reporting is digital only, including website and email .

Pew’s research just confirms what I’ve seen over the years: The onus is increasingly on us to seek out what’s going on in our state capitols. The do-nothing Congress has forced state legislatures to act — because Washington won’t.

National issues have made their way down to the states — witness the increase in the number of bills related to abortion, guns, voting and the use of drones. Oh yeah — and Medicaid expansion. These issues grab most of the headlines. Meanwhile, other issues — the ones that affect us every day — are rarely reported on at all.

How about some in-depth reporting on Virginia’s failure to contribute its full share to the cost of public schools? The legislature just passed a budget and didn’t fix this problem. When the state shirks its responsibility, localities have to make up the difference. And we know what that means: higher local taxes.

Or how about any of the reports from the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission? The latest one, issued last month, looks at the size and impact of federal spending in Virginia. Given that such spending is a major driver of our economy, particularly in Hampton Roads, shouldn’t there have been some reports about this?

What about the effects of a slew of new laws that went into effect on July 1? Shouldn’t we have been talking about them before they were passed, instead of after?

During the General Assembly session, I have a number of sources that I monitor for news, but I know I missed a lot of them; after all, it is impossible to monitor over 3,000 bills.

Had it not been for an article in Tuesday’s paper, I’d not have known that a law was passed prohibiting doctors from marking up the cost of lab work. And if my delegate, who sponsored the legislation, mentioned it in one of his emails, I missed it.

A decrease in statehouse reporting is not something we can afford. We need impartial reporting of the facts, without the bias of ideology and without the partisan sniping that far too often passes for discourse these days.