More than 6,000 print journalists have lost their jobs in recent months – part of a nation-wide trend of newspaper cut backs brought on by the steady decline of circulation, advertising revenue and stock prices. Media watchdogs say that coverage of international as well as national news has been suffering the most, with only four major newspapers retaining their foreign bureaus. Some analysts are referring to the job cuts as a crisis for democracy as well as the newsgathering industry – others have begun looking to the internet and a new era of bloggers and citizen journalists to take up the news torch. FSRN spoke with Joe Torres, the Government Relations Manager for Free Press, about the effects of media consolidation on the industry, how that's affected journalists, and how everyday people are getting involved in the struggle for media reform.

Click here for newscast for Thursday, July 31, 2008