Media watchdog groups are expressing concern over the recent sale of Knight Ridder–the country’s second largest newspaper chain. The smaller newspaper publisher McClatchy Company bought out the 32-paper Knight Ridder for $4.5 billion. The new owner has already announced plans to sell off 12 Knight Ridder newspapers including the Philadelphia Inquirer and San Jose Mercury News. “The loss of a media outlet is bad for journalism and for democracy because it decreases the number of voices in the debate,” said Steve Rendall of Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting. “This is especially clear in the case of Knight Ridder, whose Washington bureau was one of the only mainstream journalism outfits to consistently challenge the government in the run-up to war in Iraq.”

Meanwhile a new report by the Project for Excellence in Journalism is warning there has been a “seismic transformation” in the media landscape as media companies slash the amount of resources put into original reporting. The study said “The new paradox of journalism is more outlets covering fewer stories.” The report notes that in Philadelphia the number of newspaper reporters has fallen from 500 to 220 in the last quarter-century. Five AM radio stations used to cover news in Philadelphia; now there are two. Nationwide it is estimated there are 3,500 fewer professional newsroom jobs since 2000, a drop of 7 percent. Just last week the Washington Post said it would cut 80 newsroom jobs.