Media General is closing its Washington bureau March 27, along with its associated site mgwashington.com. All six employees in the bureau have been offered severance packages.
“We very much regret having to take this step,” said Publishing President Graham Woodlief. “However, as the economy continues to contract, and businesses and consumers continue to reduce spending, our advertising revenues have been adversely affected at unprecedented levels. While the Publishing Division reduced expenses in 2008 by 8 percent, excluding severance, we must continue to find ways to align our costs with the available revenue.”
The bureau has provided DC news and features to all of Media General’s newspapers, stations and Websites for 30 years. In 2008, it was reorganized into a multimedia team.
Also in a cost-cutting move, Media General announced last month it was implementing mandatory 10-day employee furloughs.
The Richmond-based company owns 19 TV stations.
