• by Fern Siegel , July 30, 2008

Newhouse News Service, a Washington-based bureau that fed national news with a local twist, is shuttering after the November election, reports The Associated Press.

The service, which is owned by Advance Publications, caters to the 26 daily newspapers in the Advance portfolio, including The Star-Ledger in Newark; The Oregonian in Portland, Oregon; The Plain Dealer in Cleveland, and The Times-Picayune in New Orleans. It was founded in 1961.

Linda Fibich, the NNS Washington bureau chief, says the local newspapers felt "they could no longer pay for the bureau," given the hard-hit economic climate. "They were steering all available resources to local coverage back at home," she told the wire service.

It is unclear whether the individual newspapers will decide to keep their Washington presence. The NNS has 24 employees; 11 write for specific publications. Fibich says the reporters are being asked to join the staffs of their respective newspapers. The company will try to place the remaining 13.

Advance also owns Conde Nast Publications, which counts The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, GQ and Vogue among its holdings.