On Tuesday, Seattle's oldest newspaper, the Hearst-owned Post-Intelligencer, will crank out its last printed edition. The P-I, as it's known, has a daily print circulation above 125,000 and nearly a half million Sunday readers. That makes it by far the largest newspaper to date to shut down its newsprint operations and become an Internet-only publication.
The reason is simple: The paper lost $14 million last year, and print newspaper revenues are almost universally shrinking even more at a rapid rate. The newspaper had already outsourced print operations to its crosstown rival, the Seattle Times.
The P-I's enormous globe sign (in photo above, click for the full image) is an iconic part of Seattle's skyline. Former employees include the novelists Frank Herbert and E.B. White. The paper isn't going away, but its format and focus will shift radically. Taking a cue from the success of the Huffington Post, the P-I will become more like Seattle news and opinion site Crosscut.
Hearst told The New York Times that the P-I will reduce its staff from 165 people to about 20. Popular columnists and bloggers will stay on, as will the people who blog for free for the P-I's website. Another 20 or so people will be hired to do online ad sales and other Web-related functions.
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
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