Seattle Post-Intelligencer to stop printing; goes web only
March 16, 2009 at 9:25 am by Jim JohnsonBy Jim Johnson
PoHo Contributor
Jim Johnson is the creator of The State of Sunshine blog.
Given a recent Pew report indicating a public losing ties to the newspaper industry, what does it mean when a large media company considers a web-only version of a newspaper that has printed since the 1850’s?
Hearst Corporation, one of the largest media companies with dozens of newspapers, magazines, television stations, and more, is considering folding the print version of Washington’s oldest newspaper — Seattle Post Intelligencer. The P-I would become an entirely web-based newspaper. [Sidebar: Can you call it a newspaper when it doesn't actually print?]
(Monday PM UPDATE: The paper announced today that it would cease printing and publish online only. Publisher’s remarks here.)
NPR asks, in their summary of Friday’s report, Can an online-only newspaper make money? The report also indicates the online version of the P-I would be little more than a news aggregator, with no investigative journalism.
Hearst is looking to use the P-I as an experiment. Seattle is the most-wired city in America, according to Forbes magazine:
Seattle, Microsoft and Amazon.com’s home base, is now the country’s most wired city.
While these marquee names have long lent the Emerald City tech-y cachet, it was Seattle’s increased use of broadband that powered it up Forbes’ annual list of the 30 most broadband-connected cities in the U.S. High marks in two other wired city categories–broadband access and wi-fi hot spots–helped Seattle clinch the top spot.
In case you’re wondering, Tampa comes in at number 16 on the list.
The thinking would be, if a newspaper can survive only as a website – Seattle would be a good place to start. If you have a city with significant internet access, then a large percentage of people are already used to living online. In this case, Hearst would not have to convince readers to start using the Internet, just make the P-I site one of their existing web destinations.
If this is successful, other media companies may start exploring the option. For example, Tribune Company owns both the Orlando Sentinel and South Florida Sun Sentinel. Orlando and Miami are, the 4th and 6th most wired cities (I know the Sun Sentinel is Broward County).
Back in Seattle, the fate of the P-I has been known for some time and the final answer will come next week. According to a report last week in the P-I:
Seattle P-I Editor and Publisher Roger Oglesby said Wednesday that The Hearst Corp., the paper’s owner, plans to announce its intentions for the paper next week.
In a brief phone interview, Oglesby said, “Hearst expects to announce a decision regarding the P-I at some point next week.”
When asked whether he knew on what day the announcement might come, he responded, “That’s all I’m going to be able to say,” declining to answer further questions.
Hearst said in early January that it would put the paper up for sale for 60 days, closing it if no buyer emerged but possibly maintaining the P-I Web site. Monday marked the end of the 60-day sale period.
The paper’s roughly 170 employees have been officially notified that their jobs will end between March 18 and April 1.
March 16th, 2009 at 4:38 pm
The loss of James Wallace’s blog from the Seattle PI is real blow for those of us who are airplane nuts. He has some of the best insight into Boeing and Airbus that is out there on the web. He will be missed by me!
March 17th, 2009 at 10:13 pm
The change at Seattle Post Intelligecer is a good thing for Seattle, and for Hearst. Developing a viable news model for on-line reporting is important to future readers and society. Read more at http://www.ThePhoenixPrinciple.com