Chris Mills Rodrigo is a fellow at Tech Policy Press.In announcing a deep round of layoffs across its 30-newspaper empire last month, McClatchy executives emphasized that they remain “deeply committed to local journalism.”“That means investing in journalism that is differentiated, consequential and difficult to replicate; reporting rooted in our communities and strengthened by sources, investigation, verification, context and judgement,” Greg Farmer, McClatchy's vice president of local news, wrote in an internal email.Staff at the chain's papers have good reason to question that commitment.At the Idaho Statesman, for example, 10 out of 18 reporters were laid off, in addition to three out of the four editors at the historic paper. The staff of the 162-year-old outlet — older than the state it covers — has been reduced to just nine.“We were presented with no kind of plan or roadmap for what the future looks like,” Idaho Statesman sports reporter and chair of the Idaho NewsGuild Michael Lycklama told Tech Policy Press.Across the border in Washington state, McClatchy cut seven positions across the four papers it owns. In Tacoma, that included the reporter responsible for covering city hall and local schools.“We're still deciphering what the future will hold, but on the ground we're utterly confused as to how a local paper moves forward at all without city hall coverage,” said Kristine Sherred, a food and dining reporter at The News Tribune and chair of the Washington State…

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