Washington - Citing a need to trim costs in the face of a worsening economy, Atlanta-based Cox Newspapers, publisher of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and 16 other daily papers, said that it will shutter its DC bureau on April 1.

The company, which recently also put its operations in Texas, North Carolina and Colorado up for sale, said that affected employees will be offered severance packages and continued employment through March 31.

"For more than 30 years, the reporters of this bureau have broken an untold number of stories that have had an impact on the lives of our readers in cities and towns all across the U.S.," said Sandy Schwartz, the president of Cox Newspapers, in a statement.

Bureau chief Andy Alexander will retire at the end of this year.

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