>The vast majority of what was lost were "beat" reporters - foreign bureaus, Washington bureaus from regional publications, statehouse reporters, or regional specialty beats (science, law, etc).
People doing actual useful news work, in other terms.
"The vast majority of what was lost were journalists." Fixed it for both of you!
(I'm joking, but then again, if demagogues can remove specifics to make statements punchier, why can't I?)
I wish would stop using "journalist" and "reporter" interchangeably.
Reporters are people who actually get out into the world, collect facts, collect opinions from real people (some of them experts at something, some of them not), try to actually see "newsworthy events" in person.
Journalists write essays based on the work reporters do.
I'm not saying I want less journalists, but I do want more reporters.