The Spokesman-Review has done remarkable work lately in covering several local major stories. These local breaking news stories include the Spokane Valley and Joel building fires, the Washington Supreme Court decision on teachers and the Joseph Duncan case. The editors are using their resources – staff, print and online – to their best advantage and continue covering these important stories.

But something troubles me. I have noticed that while there are many national stories about the economy, we are seeing few stories dealing directly with economic conditions in Spokane and the surrounding area.

City editor Addy Hatch said there have been 57 stories since Jan. 1 that cover various aspects of the local economy. Because the paper is short-staffed, reporters have been shifted to help cover the business stories, she said, adding there is always room for improvement.

If my math is correct, that means an average of seven stories a month. I’m not sure that is enough in the rapidly changing conditions, especially in light of gasoline price fluctuations, major shifts in the housing market, and higher electricity and food prices.

Scott Maben, deputy city editor for business, told me the business desk is covering local economic stories and promptly pointed to four major stories: one in June, two in July and one on Aug. 1. He also said there may be more on the local economy at the end of summer, but the national stories can suffice to give people information they need.

“I’m not inclined to try to localize every one of those (national stories) with stats or comments about things around here,” Maben said. “One, it’s not practical given our dramatically reduced staffing. If we’re doing that, then we’re not doing something else. But I also believe it’s not necessary. Stories on the state of the national economy have considerable merit on their own.”

Maben explained that because of layoffs in the newspaper staff last year, there are only three reporters working full time on the business desk, with one person devoted to the Sunday .TXT page. Yes, that does spread the reporters very thin for coverage and calls for the shifting of reporters from other desks to help. It also increases the frustration level for editors who are trying to do more with less.

“Believe me, I would assign more local stories if we had the reporters to assign them to,” he said. “And I do hope we can shift our business reporting focus to place greater emphasis on consumer issues.”

Carla Savalli, assistant managing editor for news, said there has been a shift and several city desk reporters have recently written city-based business stories.

“With our resources so stretched, we more and more are working outside departments,” Savalli said. “We work to get good stories and important information in the paper, which means non-business reporters sometimes write business stories. But as often as we do that, it is still a daily process of setting priorities based on the news and on our resources.”

But local business stories do not necessarily mean local stories on the economy. One can write about a business without explaining the economic impact. As a journalist – especially as a former business journalist – I see a bit of a scarcity in this local angle that bothers me. It is rare to have a local community follow the national trends so closely that one does not need a local perspective.

This is not a problem that is unique to this newspaper. Many news organizations of all kinds (even Internet news resources) are being forced to downsize staffs and expenses just to stay in the profit margin necessary to continue competing. The rising prices families face are likewise felt in newsrooms, as management tries to deal with gasoline, insurance and liability costs while continuing to put out a quality product.

However, newspapers also need to continue to be held to their social responsibility principles of covering the important stories of the day, especially during hard times.

Economic stories are vital to the lifeblood of any community. They should be a constant, responding to the changing atmosphere of business. Not just for the local businesses and new businesses, but also for the consumers who use the information to make investment, purchasing and retirement decisions.

Hatch is right: There is room for improvement.