Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World

Today’s Washington Press Corps More Digital, Specialized

1. The journalists covering Washington and whom they work for

The makeup of today’s Washington press corps

The cohort of journalists covering Washington affairs, from Congress to the White House and other federal agencies, continues to evolve.

Newspaper staff once dominated Press Gallery ranks

Reporters working for specialty publications often catering to elite audiences, labeled “niche” outlets in this report, have risen in number. So too have journalists working for publications that were born on the web – newer arrivals to the capital – called “digital-native” outlets here.

Meanwhile, the number of journalists working for daily newspapers has continued to dwindle, though not as dramatically as during and after the recession of 2008.

This analysis updates a study produced by Pew Research Center in 2009. Since that time, the total size of the Washington press corps has changed relatively little, though the ranks of those who fill the Senate galleries continue to change.

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