Traditional media’s trudge into the tar pits may benefit greedy local politicians who can get away with more chicanery when obsessive reporters aren’t breathing down their necks. According to an FCC report, there’s a major shortage of local news media ready to potentially hold local officials accountable for their actions.

An AP story says print media has been hardest hit, losing more than 25 percent of the staffing it had in 2001. The FCC, while acknowledging that the government cannot solve the problem, recommends helping out by creating state-level TV news organizations that function in the manner of C-SPAN, sending more federal dollars on local news media, as well as easing tax burdens of news non-profits.

Where do you get the news about your local government, and how have your sources changed over the last 10 years?

FCC report finds major shortage in local reporting [AP via MSNBC, Newsvine]

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