While the death of several prominent regional newspapers has captured headlines recently, there's another, more quiet, change in the media scene that could have long term ramifications for state governments almost everywhere.

The job of statehouse reporter is in serious decline:

This winter, [the American Journalism Review]conducted its fifth census of newspaper reporters who cover state government, its first since 2003, and found a staggering loss of reporting firepower at America's state capitols.

The tally found only 355 full-time newspaper reporters at the nation's state capitols, a 32 percent decrease from just six years ago. It discovered that 44 statehouses have fewer full-time reporters than they did six years ago. The number of full-time reporters remained the same in four states and increased modestly in two.

In many cases, these are journalists who have played a valuable role as watchdogs in past. These are also the reporters who have covered the passage of important legislation and the careers of notable leaders.

State government will be a very different place without them.

But this current state of affairs is not without hope. As traditional print outlets stand down, many new organizations are trying to step into the void.

There are local bloggers like Capital Annex in Texas who report breaking news from the Capitol nearly every day.

There are former journalists who are trying their hand at the web -- like the folks at the Arizona Guardian.

Nonprofits are also picking up the slack.

No one, for instance, has done better legislative session reporting than the Center for Independent Media -- which currently has sites in Colorado, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota and New Mexico.

There is no denying that state journalism is in a state of flux, but the future is not as dismal as some claim.