More squeeze at Times

Some staffers in the LAT Washington bureau have been told that the paper's national edition will close at the end of the year. It's a condensed version of the Times that was launched (in the cynical view) essentially to help the paper's stories get read in the White House, Congress and newsrooms in Washington. It had a certain appeal as a smaller, nearly ad-free version of the Times, but it cost lots to produce. It may survive in some digital form; no word on what happens to the edition's editors in L.A. The bureau also learned that its future home (under the Tribune-ordered consolidation) will be in the vacant Woodward & Lothrop department store at 11th and F streets, a location some reporters aren't too thrilled about. They have enjoyed prime digs with a Metro stop right in the building. If the rumors are correct, the Times bureau will have to shed six slots in the coming merger, mostly eluding the ax that is falling hard on the Washington staffs of other Tribune-owned papers. A story in The Hill lists some of who is out at Newsday and observes, "Reporters and editors at some of Washington’s largest out-of-town newspaper offices...are holding their breath while waiting for word from on high this week as to how many will fall victim to drastic cost-cutting measures."