Monday, December 7, 2009

It's official: McClatchy closes Jerusalem, Nairobi, Caracas, and Moscow bureaus, will share Baghdad bureau with Christian Science Monitor

McClatchy announced today it has reconfigured its foreign bureau coverage for next year, effectively closing bureaus in several cities and focusing its foreign resources in Kabul, Baghdad, Beijing, Mexico City, and Cairo.

Click here for John Walcott's memo.

McClatchy's coverage in Kabul began this past fall when Seattle Times reporter Hal Bernton flew to Afghanistan for a two month rotation there.

Most of these changes have been discussed -- and rumored -- for months. Last month I noted McClatchy's Africa bureau was being closed.

The costs to keep these bureaus open -- the Baghdad bureau requires some $2 million a year to keep open -- was too much for debt-burdened McClatchy to bear.
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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

It's a good start but they should close all the foreign bureaus and concentrate on local and regional news. They just can't seem to grasp the reality of the situation. These so-called bureaus are a waste of budget. Prestige doesn't pay the bills and the salaries of reporters.