Let the pre-Thanksgiving bad news dump continue.

Washington Post editor Marcus Brauchli sent a memo to staffers late yesterday announcing that the paper was shutting down national bureaus in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago at the end of the year. Three news aides lost their jobs because of the move, although the six reporters in the bureaus have been offered jobs in D.C., our sister blog FishbowlDC reported.

The move highlights the Post's desire to concentrate its "limited resources" on coverage of local news that it feels is important to its readers. Explained Brauchli in his memo:

"At a time of limited resources and increased competitive pressure, it's necessary to concentrate our journalistic firepower on our central mission of covering Washington and the news, trends and ideas that shape both the region and the country's politics, policies and government."

In an interview with the Post's media columnist Howard Kurtz, Brauchli added, "We are not a national news organization of record serving a general audience. Nor are we a wire service or cable channel."

Guess that leaves The New York Times as the sole "local" newspaper that still serves as a "national news organization of record," are we right?

Washington Post shutters last U.S. bureaus --Washington Post

WaPo Closing LA, NYC And Chicago Bureaus --FishbowlDC