Seattle P.I. R.I.P.

[Mysterion]

For those keeping score in the decline of newspapers in the US, tomoorow will see the last print edition of the Seattle Post Intelligencer. It will continue to publish as a web-only entity, however.

Will be interesting to see how long the Seattle Times lasts, though, as I believe it's sales are also in decline these days.

 

[Obiwanshinobi]

and long live, The Stranger!

 

[CaptJimboJones]

The Times will be around for at least a few more years, now that it's gained monopoly status. And its readership will grow significantly as PI readers switch over. That's not to say its going to last forever - printed newspapers are a "sunset industry" and they'll eventually go away, unfortunately - but at least in the medium term, I expect the Times to stick around.

And frankly, the Times is the better paper, so I'm glad that it's the survivor, even as much as I hate to see the P.I. fold.

 

[Aragorn]

Print media is dying. I think someone mentioned in Misc. a while back that a print media bailout was being considered, which makes no sense because people still need cars, houses and whatnot. Print media is only going one direction.

Newspapers are important, and when they're gone your local news will suffer the most. But no one's going to care.

 

[Harvey]

I grew up south of Seattle--in Olympia--so it is sad to see this paper go. But, like it or not, daily (print) newspapers are on their way out. The local paper from Olympia is on its last legs, too.

 

[Caliburn24]

The Tacoma Tribune is cutting jobs too, so it'll probably be fading out within a few years.

Progress marches on, if a newspaper can't make a profit let it die.

 

[Mysterion]

The Tacoma Tribune is cutting jobs too, so it'll probably be fading out within a few years.

Progress marches on, if a newspaper can't make a profit let it die.

Well, the Trib's monday edition is almost non-existent at this point with the national, local, and editorial departments all crammed into one section. And, frankly, the Trib's never been that great a paper anyway.

I think it all comes down to this: why buy a newspaper today when it has yesterday's news (which you've already seen/read/heard on the internet/tv/radio), or at best news which is eight to twelve hours old when the paper hits your doorstep?

 

[Aragorn]

Why are all the papers quitting on a Tuesday?

 

[Mysterion]

Why are all the papers quitting on a Tuesday?

Good question.

Any newspaper folk here who know the answer?

 

[CaptJimboJones]

I think it all comes down to this: why buy a newspaper today when it has yesterday's news (which you've already seen/read/heard on the internet/tv/radio), or at best news which is eight to twelve hours old when the paper hits your doorstep?

You're absolutely right. Unfortunately most of that news you've already seen on the Internet/TV/radio was originally generated by a newspaper reporter. I've seen estimates that more than 85 percent of all news content distributed online is created by newspapers. That means there is going to be a massive void as these papers start to close en masse. While other organizations will no doubt spring up to fill it, nothing in the short term will replace the sheer numbers of newspaper reporters deployed out there covering city councils, school boards, courts, police stations, businesses etc. etc. etc.

At this very moment, for example, at the top of the Google News page on my screen, stories from 20 news organizations are listed. Of those, 12 are from newspapers (including the Miami Herald, the Washingpost Post and the Kansas City Star), one is the Associated Press (which is owned and operated by newspapers), and one is a print magazine. Two are wire services (Bloomberg and Reuters) and two are broadcast outlets (CNN and ABC News.)

Just one is an online-only outlet, and that's CNET News.

The death of newspapers is going to be a bonanza for the corporations and other propagandists who will simply create their own "news content" with far fewer professional, paid and trained journalists doing independent reporting.