Washington Post will close US bureaus

The Washington Post is closing its bureaus in Chicago, Los Angeles and New York as the money-losing newspaper retrenches to focus on politics and local news in the nation's capital. "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 countries politics, policies and government," the paper's top editor, Marcus Brauchli, wrote in a memo to employees that was obtained by Reuters. The bureaus will close effective Dec 31, Brauchli wrote in the memo. The news comes after the Post told several employees at its website that they would be laid off too, and follows several rounds of buyouts in recent years. The Post, like nearly every other US newspaper, has been battered by falling advertising revenue and circulation as readers get more news online for free.