ABC News to cut half its domestic correspondents, close bricks-and-mortar bureaus [Updated]

As part of the deep cuts announced this week at ABC News, the network plans to close all of its physical bureaus around the country except Washington and halve the number of its domestic correspondents.

ABC News President David Westin confirmed in an interview Friday that the network's ranks of bureau correspondents, which currently number several dozen, would be cut in half and be replaced with "digital" journalists who would be expected to shoot and edit their own stories.

“We will have as many total journalists as we do now,” he said.

Although the network will keep a minimal staff presence in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Miami and Boston, it will shut down its bricks-and-mortar bureaus there and ask its remaining employees to work from the local affiliates. The Washington bureau will remain open, but its size will be substantially reduced.

[Updated at 1:10 p.m.: Kate O'Brian, ABC's senior vice president of news, said that although the network eventually plans to shut down its physical bureaus in the long term, it is still examining all of its leases and is not going to immediately vacate all offices. The news division has not yet approached affiliates about housing network correspondents, but has found that model works in Denver and Detroit.]

The mood was grim in Los Angeles, the largest bureau outside of Washington. The 40-plus staffers were told this week that only a few producers would remain and only two correspondents would be assigned to cover the West, down from a total of six who work out of Dallas, Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Many functions that had been done out of the bureau will be handled by a “logistics desk” in New York. Demoralized employees, who did not want to be quoted by name for fear of losing their jobs, said the severity of the cuts would make it nearly impossible to swarm major stories such as the perennial wildfires in Southern California.

Westin said the network would cope with the reduced manpower on breaking news stories by hiring freelance crews and making use of its expanded team of digital journalists, staffers who would be able to handle multiple tasks. Although a majority of stories will still be covered by traditional four-person crews, Westin said he expected a “plurality” of pieces would be done by people shooting and editing their own video. The digital journalists will be stationed in two-person teams around the country.

“I’m sure we will learn more as we go forward, but we have enough experience to be quite confident that we can not only maintain but in some cases enhance our editorial quality,” he said.

This week, the network began sending out letters offering voluntary buyouts to all nonunion employees, and is posting openings of the new digital journalism positions.

“This is a really big change,” Westin said. “Some people are going to embrace it and some people will believe it won’t work. I respect both those groups of people. It’s a question of who wants to work here in the way we’re going to change the place. ... I’m quite confident we will have enough people who are enthusiastic and up to the task.”

-- Matea Gold

Comments

[Buggy]

Awww... The All Barak Channel is having tough times?

I hope they're enjoying the "change" they helped create.

[Bob]

Was this the change that President Obama promised? Remember ABC was one of his big supporters. In fact many thought the network should have been renamed to DNC-BC before the election. "Many functions that had been done out of the bureau will be handled by a 'logistics desk' in New York." What does that mean? Everything that goes on the network will be edited by New York? It looks like the news is about to be outsourced.

[lwayne]

It will get worse for these propaganda outlets. Soon their news will be gone and they will be looking up at the Food Channel.

[Becka]

I don't know why the employees are worried about covering the news now. Shouldn't they have worried when they weren't doing it. Good grief!

[Enigma]

This should not pose a problem on the domestic news front, as the DNC has been preparing most of the news for them anyhow.

[Roy MacLean]

"[T]he network's ranks of bureau correspondents, which currently number several dozen, would be cut in half and be replaced with "digital" journalists who would be expected to shoot and edit their own stories."

Shades of Max Headroom! Maybe we'll get more intelligent,unbiased information.

[Vince Hugh]

What is amazing is ABC could have become a very viable and popular nightly news broadcaster with a huge amount of viewers if it had simply become like a FOX News network and offered balanced news reports than their typical liberal slant to everything. Middle America is craving for a network broadcast company to duplicate FOX News type coverage based on typical conservative culture that is embedded in America. The problem is these NY/Hollywood staff writers and journalists actually think people like Palin, Limbaugh, Gingrich, etc are far right wackoes. They can't understand the basic conservative values that reside the middle America. They live in that NY city genre of liberalism. Too bad. What a waste of many jobs at ABC.

[Ellen O'Day]

Wonderful, ABC is releasing left wing talent to compete in the market.

For the first time ever many of them will be forced to put their skills for left wing BS on the line. My prediction is that many of them faced with economic reality will somehow move a little to the right.

[Richard]

Hey, how's that hope and change workin' out for ya? There will not be any wealth (JOBS) created in this country until we tell the wacko, no-growth environmentalists to shut-up and begin tapping and mineing our domestic energy and mineral resources. Wind, solar and "other"(?) alternative energy sources will never provide enough energy to power any economic growth. So if you want to live in poverty for the rest of your lives y'all just keep votin' Democrat out there.

[gimmeyourmoney]

Unions are one of the problems and now are being protected. Freelance journalists are to replace the employed journalists and they require no benefits at all. This means the freelancers will be supplementing the unions. ABC is practicing in their own business what they rail against with other corporations. Sickos

[Edguardo]

If the existing “news” organizations returned to real journalism instead of acting as naive cheerleaders for the socialist agenda ,they would have millions more viewers and readers .

[cj]

"network's ranks of bureau correspondents, which currently number several dozen, would be cut in half and be replaced with "digital" journalists" translated means "replaced with posters to Huffington Post." Great, two lame stream media outlets using far left blog posters for "news reports."

[VELVEL IN DECATUR]

Who's the leader of the NET THAT DOES NOT WORK
That's made for FUN AND GLEE
M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E
Hey! there, Hi! there, Ho! there
WE KEEP YOU STUPID as can be
M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E

Mickey Mouse! (ABC)

Mickey Mouse! (ABC)

Forever let us FOOL ALL CITIZENREY
High ‽ High‽ High‽ High! [PUFF OF SMOKE, ANYONE?]

Come along, IGNORE THE NEWS
And join the jamboree!
M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E

Who's the leader of the NET THAT HAS NO NEWS
That's made for FUN AND GLEE
M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E
Hey! there, Hi! there, Ho! there
You're as IGNORANT as can be
M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E

[swathdiver]

Ahh the consequences of decades spent lying and twisting facts to cover for Statists and promote Statism. The American people opposed your agenda and have taken you down with their wallets.

Socialism in ANY form is immoral and EVIL!

[Michael McCully]

Gone are the glory days, the days of truth and great stories. The last few years has seen the decline of journalistic integrity on ABC. ABC thought it was doing the right thing but has lost its moral compass and now slowly fades away. Shame on ABC. FOX Cable News kept its integrity and look where it is.

[mark]

Just move the entire operation to the DNC headquarters.

[No fan of the drive-by media]

As a retired advertising director for a large Grocery Chain, I figured ABC and the other news(?) networks are getting what the deserve. If you try and sell a product that the public will not buy, you get it off the shelf and DO NOT stock it again. This lesson apparently has not been learned by most of the liberal leaning media. You can't be one sided and expect any respect...and the ratings prove that point...as now we will have cut-backs and hopefully more shut-downs.They richly deserve what the are now having to face. Fox news has proven that balanced news reporting does pay, and their ratings are proof of that policy.The other networks are either to stupid or too much in the tank with the Libs to see what the problem has been....ain't that just too bad???

[DWinMadison]

Ironic. The left-leaning MSM sentences its own to the same fate being suffered by millions of other Americans under the tyranny of this oppressive, leftist federal government and it's policies. Hey, maybe there are some openings at FoxNews...they seem to be pretty busy these days.

[Jason]

Ladies and Gentleman, you are witnessing the beginning of the fall of the modern day Communist party (aka once known as the Democrats). People are sick and tired of getting radical/progressive Liberal BS crammed down their throats. It is unfortunate tht ABC wouldn't completely go out of business all together.

[JC]

Maybe if you started reporting the news like your supposed to you wouldn't be in this situation. Quit pacifying Obama and his staff. Report what they are doing (yes, the wrong things) and maybe people will start watching again. America doesn't trust him nor HIS television stations right now.

[STEVE5150]

All the major 'news organizations' are rapidly evaporating with the exception of FOX News. Is it possible that Mr. Weston and his associates are unable to see what a blind man could determine by tapping with his cane. I guess not.

[Big Jim Slade]

Meanwhile Disney/ABC CEO Bob Iger has been raking it in...

While CEO of Walt Disney in 2008, Iger earned a total compensation of $51,072,580, which included a base salary of $2,000,000, a cash bonus of $13,945,493, stocks granted of $5,904,000, and options granted of $28,449,997.

That $50 million might keep a bureau or two open...

[Knew is Was Coming]

How can anyone be surprised at the ABC cuts. Who is watching them anymore? I knew it was over when Charlie Gibson sat and looked down his nose and over his glasses in his infamous Sarah Palin interview!

[jadams76]

Maybe.... if we didn't slant the news to the left so much more people would watch? Maybe... if we weren't such cheerleaders for Obama and the Democrats viewers would come back and we wouldn't have to lay off so many people? It's a model that seems to be working at Fox News. They don't have massive layoffs. Perhaps.. if we just toned it down a bit.. weren't so 'in the tank' for the left. Yeah...we could put on a more even handed news show and get the viewers back.......................................................................Naaaaaahhhhhhh.

[JGoodson]

Couldn't have happened to a better bunch of "folks".