Perhaps they stopped using datelines for stories? It was probably a change in style or format, not a reduction in the number of stories about New York, because

Perhaps they stopped using datelines for stories? It was probably a change in style or format, not a reduction in the number of stories about New York, because the percentages of stories about other cities drop in a similar way at the same time. http://chronicle.nytlabs.com/?keyword=new%20york.washington.moscow.london&format=percent http://chronicle.nytlabs.com/?keyword=new%20york.washington.... Bonus... the end of that chart, I think you can see when the NYT really did begin to expand its proportion non-local news.