Bousquet's column: "Ravaged by readership and advertising losses and struggling to turn a profit from their online editions, U.S. newspapers are trimming their staffs. State capital bureaus are not immune. As a consequence, fewer people are around to hold government accountable and make it relevant to taxpayers and voters.

"...Fewer reporters means more reliance on Associated Press stories, which are serviceable but can't possibly be tailored to regional differences. Fewer reporters mean fewer people to monitor lawmakers and encourage them to pay attention to problems back home. ...Two weeks ago, the Times became the last major Florida paper to end daily circulation to Tallahassee. The paper cited the growing costs of trucking the paper north every night to serve a devoted but tiny following of several hundred readers. "