The editor of California’s PasadenaNow site has hired two journalists in India to cover Pasadena’s city government. How would that work? The city council meetings are streamed over the internet, and the journalists can pick up the phone to interview people. “I think it could be a significant way to increase the quality of journalism on the local level without the expense that is a major problem for local publications,” said James Macpherson. He’s spending $20,800 for both of the reporters for the year — with a target of 15 articles each a week. “This is a truly sad picture of what American journalism could become,” says a USC journalism professor. (Thanks Judith!)
Adds Brad in comments: “This isn’t a choice between hiring local reporters and hiring outsourced reporters. It’s between hiring low wage journalists overseas or no one at all. Currently the website is populated primarily with press releases and event listings. While I would hate to see news organizations layoff reporters to hire workers overseas who will have a hard time getting the pulse of the local community, isn’t it better to have two distant journalists writing for the site than no reporters at all?”