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This week, host 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.”
Matthew Powers teaches at the University of Washington, is co-director of the Center For Journalism, Media And Democracy (CJMD) and co-author of the report.He says the decline has come amid major shifts in both state governance and the journalism industry. “State governments have gone in the past several decades from being what one political scientist referred to somewhat derisively as the runt in the litter of American policy making to really the central place in which a lot of policy making actually happens in the United States,” said Powers, “And at the same time as that’s happened, you’ve had real big changes in the business of media in general.”
The decline in Statehouse coverage is part of a broader contraction in the news industry. The report found that while Washington’s population and state budget have surged in recent decades, the number of journalists covering government has moved in the opposite direction. Meanwhile, lobbyists and legislators have maintained steady representation in Olympia.
The decrease in political reporters mirrors a larger decline in local news nationwide. According to the Medill School of Journalism, the U.S. has lost more than one-third of its newspapers since 2005, leaving 55 million Americans with limited or no access to local news.
While some may celebrate a reduced media presence amid growing distrust in journalism, Powers argues that Statehouse reporters play a vital role beyond readership numbers. “There is solid political science research showing that independent news media presence in state capitals correlates with lower levels of corruption and malfeasance,” he said. “Even if people aren’t actively reading the coverage, the fact that reporters are present keeps politicians accountable.”
Says Powers, “There’s nothing, in and of itself problematic, per se, about increasingly strong state governments, and there are many good reasons why that’s developed, but it is problematic and it is worrisome when you have fewer and fewer reporters able to cover it.”
Powers, a self described “realistic optimist,” told TVW’s Inside Olympia, that the changing face of the Olympia press corps offers some bright spots. The report found that while there are fewer journalists covering the Capitol, the group is more diverse and younger than in previous decades. In the last legislative session, seven of the eight full-time reporters were women under the age of 40. These reporters, Powers said, are shifting focus away from traditional “process reporting” toward stories that examine how policy decisions impact communities.
Additionally, new media outlets and digital platforms have emerged to fill gaps left by traditional newspapers. Organizations such as nonprofit-funded Washington State Standard and subscription-based independent outlets have entered the space, providing alternative funding models to sustain investigative reporting.
Despite these positive developments, the report highlights significant gaps in coverage, particularly for rural communities. Issues like housing affordability receive significantly more attention than agricultural policy, leaving rural residents underserved. “The loss of local newspapers means that many Washingtonians lack in-depth reporting on the policies that directly affect them,” Powers noted.
The financial sustainability of political journalism remains a major challenge. While national outlets such as The New York Times have successfully pivoted to subscription-based models, local news organizations struggle to maintain profitability. States are increasingly looking for ways to help shore up local journalism, including a new $90 million fund in New York and a $125 million partnership in California that includes Google.
Washington state is experimenting with state-funded initiatives to support local journalism. Through the Murrow News Fellow program at Washington State University, the state has provided funding to place journalists in local newsrooms, including their Olympia bureaus.
“It’s an evolving landscape,” Powers said. “We may never return to the days of a bustling Capitol press corps, but new models are emerging. The challenge is ensuring they are sustainable, independent, and capable of providing the oversight that democracy requires.”