Wow. Fargo-based Forum Communications has eliminated its North Dakota Capitol correspondent's job.

According to the Fargo Forum (the state's largest paper) Janell Cole "was the last remaining full-time North Dakota statehouse reporter working for specific newspapers outside of Bismarck. The Associated Press still has a full-time Capitol correspondent."

Why do we care? Forum is Minnesota's largest newspaper publisher, at least by number of dailies. Among their 21 state papers are the Duluth News-Tribune, Red Wing Republican-Eagle, West Central (Willmar) Tribune, Bemidji Pioneer and Worthington Daily Globe.

At the moment, those outposts are very ably served by two seasoned vets, Don Davis and Scott Wente, who may be more than a bit nervous right now. Among their other talents, they cover agriculture and outstate policy in a way few other organizations, save perhaps MPR, does. The Forum story mentions them but makes no declarations about their futures.

There are material differences between the two states, of course — not the least of which is that North Dakota's legislature meets for four months every other year while Minnesota's annual sessions feel increasingly endless. And Cole fed four papers, not 21.

The Forum's editor says he'll shift reporters over every North Dakota session, and, let's face it, many Minnesota organizations staff up seasonally the same way. Between our old and new media, I can't say legislative news is lacking here — though you never know what stories didn't get covered.

Of course, Capitol correspondents cover more than the session — they follow the governor, the bureaucracy, take the lead on campaigns. These days, it's not like democracy has an off-season.

Still, the depopulation of traditional-media Capitol bureaus is not a new trend, so it shouldn't shock that some states must now depend on AP, general assignment reporters and new-media guerrillas to guide them through democracy's tricky terrain.

With an eye toward new voices, there are those who argue we're at the beginning of a Renaissance, though I doubt non-metro Minnesotans are as optimistic. Perhaps the best we can hope for is that any damage is limited to the reputations of the once-proud media giants themselves.