The ProJo's disappearing act on local politics

During last night's Pawtucket mayoral debate, moderator John C. Gregory of the Northern RI Chamber of Commerce noted how the press panel -- consisting of a scribe from the Times of Pawtucket and a representative of Senior Digest -- was down a person from how things used to be.

Gregory didn't mention the ProJo by name, but his implicit critique referred to how Rhode Island's statewide daily no longer has a reporter dedicated to Pawtucket. John Castellucci, the last person in that role, took the paper's most recent buyout.

Similarly, in Cranston -- another city with a hard-fought mayoral race -- former Cranston beat reporter David Scharfenberg is among the ProJo reporters whose layoff took effect earlier this month.

Although the ProJo is apparently still figuring out how to array its remaining resources, there remain times when the paper can simultaneously walk and chew gum. During one particularly heavy local news day last week, the Journal's front page was heavy with staff bylines.

And sure, if there's a triple-axe murder (a favorite phrase of the late, great Douglas Crocket) in Pawtucket or Cranston, or some other sensational event, the Journal will come out to cover it.

Yet with television having already walked away from a more serious commitment to political coverage, the typical upshot for most Rhode Islanders will be an absence of information upon which to make their civic decisions.