Reluctantly saying goodbye to the Seattle P-I
Published: January 9, 2009
Updated: January 9, 2009
Maybe the saddest headline I've seen in the P-I to date.
It’s a sad day for the people of Puget Sound because the news will soon no longer be in the P-I.
The newspaper announced today that it will be up for sale for 60 days, and in the absence of a buyer, will either close the doors for good or continue with a very minimal online-only staff producing for the Web. Under no circumstances, the P-I reports, will it continue in print.
For those who haven’t been following the current state of the newspaper industry, finding a buyer for the P-I would be similar to winning the lottery. The chances are just that bad.
The outlook for the quality of journalism in Seattle is even worse.
Even if the Seattle Times manages to work out its financial woes–mind you, while reducing it’s coverage–then its quality will be hurt by the lack of competition. And this, in addition to the non-existent or reduced online P-I, will only mean local government officials and other organizations will be held less accountable.
The sale also means plenty of very talented journalists will be out of jobs, with not many prospects for new ones in journalism.
Which bodes horribly for me, a junior journalism and photography student myself. I’ve done very little in my free time since hearing the news last night from a colleague. In fact, I’ve been staring(ironically) at seattlepi.com for hours; I think I’ve read nearly every story featured on the front page.
I’ve also read (unfortunately) many of the comments posted on the Seattle P-I’s coverage of its own demise. Here are my responses to what I’ve seen:
1) For all of you “I get the news online” people, this will hurt you. Even if the P-I keeps its Web edition alive, it will not be able to offer the same comprehensive coverage. To make matters worse, the death of the P-I means the Associated Press will lose not only a subscriber who pays fees that support its operations but a content provider as well. The AP is responsible for so much of the news you see, including coverage on major networks or local broadcast news.
2) For all of you “I read my news on blogs” people, you don’t actually read much news that was originally generated by the blog. You read news reported by professionals at news organizations like the P-I, which bloggers typically rehash (just like I’m doing now) and maybe provide a link to. Another newspaper gone is another source lost for bloggers. And for those bloggers who do generate news content, how much of it is investigative? How many of them have connections at major employers in the area? How many file records requests or even know how? How many listen to the emergency scanner? How many can drop their day job to go cover what is happening in their neighborhood? How many can cover all the beats that a large newsroom can? And how many know how to write well? How many can make powerful images that tell a story and are beautiful? (By the way, the Seattle P-I leads the way in the Puget Sound area with the most informative collection of staff and reader blogs.)
3) To all of you “Good, the Seattle P-I was so liberal” people: And your alternatives aren’t liberal, either? Childish comebacks aside, a newspaper is not defined by the leanings of its editorial pages. It’s defined by its truth, accountability and professionalism in reporting. The P-I offered this at a level you will not see in most other local media outlets.
4) To all of you who have taken this as a chance to degrade the P-I and the good people who work there: These are real people losing real livelihoods, and that is no laughing matter.
As Michele Murray, assistant vice president for Student Development, said to me this morning, now is not the time to lose our professional journalists and our outstanding newspapers. Not in the beginning of a recession. Not in year with upcoming local elections. Not with a crucial legislative session opening soon. Not with budget shortfalls in all levels of government. Not now.
But sadly, I think 2009 will prove itself to be the year of the death of newspapers.
This one (cross my fingers), however, is not going anywhere.
A video of President of Hearst Newspaper Division Steven Swartz’s speech to the P-I newsroom, courtesy the Seattle P-I:
This is really sad. I’ve only been in Seattle for a little over 2 years, but in that time, the PI has always had such better writing (in my opinion) than the Times. It’s sad that it has to go like this, but I think this is the sign of time more than anything. Smaller cities like Seattle aren’t going to be able to support two major papers. There just isn’t enough distribution to make a profit when having a heavy competitor. While this really is a sad day for the PI, and I’m upset that it had to be the one to lose out, we can hope that maybe some PI subscribers will switch to the Times and that Seattle will at least have ONE paper. And if not, at least we still have The Stranger, which may be one of the country’s best local papers.
This video is worth taking a look at: http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1526070353/bctid6808758001. Sure is sad. Maybe Bill Gates will decide to swoop in and keep it alive for the sake of Seattle.
The Seattle PI with its dishonest reporting cost Rossi his job as governor.
Good riddance to a propoganda machine.
This is a sad day and I agree, it is likely to be a sad year, as far as newspapers go. They’ve been slowly dying and this year may just kill them off. And with so much going on, like you said, now is it worst time.
I find it tragic that such a literate city is losing one of its papers, because what will happen to cities who may not be considered so “literate and educated”?
Great!! Now I have to start buying toilet paper again.
Good riddance you piece of trash. no….trash is too good.
In the business market one motto comes to mind…Evolve or Die. I am sure most of the people working there thought, “This is too big to fail” Guess what? it did. The same kind of thinking coming from the White House.
When are liberals going to wake up? Oh yeah…when their newspapers and radio shows go belly up. I won’t be holding my breath, but maybe they should.