Photo by Chris Rief aka Spodie Odie.

In a blow to both print and local journalism, the Washington Post announced this afternoon that it would be shutting down nine of its 11 regional bureaus. Post ombudsman Patrick Pexton, who called the move “cost cutting,” confirmed that as leases expire from 2012 on, Post bureaus in Rockville, Largo, La Plata, Alexandria, Fairfax, Leesburg, Manassas and inside both D.C. Superior Court and U.S. District Court will close. (The Post’s bureaus in Annapolis and Richmond will remain open and fully-staffed, however.)

In 2009, the Post closed all of its bureaus outside the immediate Metro region.

Despite the move, Jim Romenesko reports that the paper is not planning on reducing coverage of the ‘burbs, they just don’t to pay for the rental space anymore. Romenesko also has a memo from local editor Vernon Loeb that claims “the closure of the physical buildings does not mean that the Post will reduce its local coverage,” that “the Post remains committed to covering our region as aggressively as possible,” and that some of the savings from the closings might be used to invest in mobile technology for reporters.

What — like teleportation pods?