Closing the door on Baghdad

The Boston Globe decided to shut its Baghdad office, while maintaining foreign offices in Beirut, Beijing and Johannesburg.

Don't be fooled. This doesn't mean the war is over. It just means that that budget strapped newspaper can't afford to staff an office in a war zone.

The Boston Globe isn't alone. Foreign bureaus are on the chopping block for a number of high-profile papers.

Newsday, which is owned by Tribune, cut its Mexico City office at the end of 2005. And there is a budget proposal pending approval that will close Newsday's Beijing office. Sadly, Newsday was a pioneer when it opened the Beijing office more than 30 years ago.

While this is hardly a pandemic, foreign coverage, particularly in a war zone, is important to the folks back home. Turning to a limited number of sources for news coverage just seems sketchy.