LOS ANGELES - CNN said Tuesday it's adding journalists in 10 cities from Philadelphia to Seattle to provide broader, more nimble TV and online coverage of news nationwide.
The move comes as newspapers and other media companies are forced into cutbacks and layoffs because of sweeping changes triggered by the growth of the Internet and because of the slumping U.S. economy.
Each city will get one person who can provide "grassroots level" coverage of breaking news and other local stories, said Nancy Lane, senior vice president of newsgathering for CNN/U.S.
The mix of traditional general assignment reporters and "all-platform journalists" may be based at affiliate stations, colleges or even at home, Lane said, with the best available technology to file film and photo reports via laptop computers and PDAs.
Some of the new jobs may be filled by correspondents now with CNN's daytime and prime-time programs, the network said.
Besides Philadelphia and Seattle, the journalists will be located in Columbus, Ohio; Denver; Houston; Las Vegas; Orlando, Fla.; Phoenix; the Raleigh, N.C., area; and Minneapolis, Minn., where the approach was tested and is in operation.
CNN, owned by Time Warner Inc., has bureaus in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, New Orleans, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Francisco and Washington, D.C.
With air travel increasingly complicated and time-consuming, CNN wanted a way to respond more quickly to breaking news everywhere, Lane said.
The expansion represents a "sizable commitment in dollars," Lane said, declining to provide specifics. Hiring is under way, and the timetable is to get the new positions filled by the end of March 2009.
Support staff for the journalists will be added in some hub bureaus.
CNN is trying to do something "new and different," Lane said. "If we don't do this, where's the industry in 10 years?" she said.
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