Is The Seattle Times Next?

ON DEATHWATCH IN SEATTLE – The evidence continues to mount that today (Tues., March 10) may be the last day in the print life of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. This is, after all, the deadline that parent company Hearst set for a buyer everyone knew would never come. P-I employees, who were offered a “last” visit to the newspaper’s iconic globe on Monday, are speculating that Tuesday will be spent producing the paper’s final edition and that the new, online-only P-I would be launched on Thursday.

There isn’t a whole lot to add that hasn’t already been said. Both NPR-affiliate radio stations, KPLU and KUOW are paying last respects with three-part series on the P-I, its history and impact on Seattle. Meanwhile, a day after a former Seattle Times staffer ranted about the lack of attention shown by the P-I’s chief rival, the Times finally weighed in with a straight news story.

The lack of sentimentality is not surprising. The Times actually cast an eye toward the P-I’s imminent demise in the newspapers’ shared Sunday editions (produced by the Times, per the joint operating agreement (JOA) between the two) by promoting its week’s content on every section cover. The effort, of course, was aimed at capturing P-I subscribers once their newspaper stopped publishing.

(It’s interesting to note that the eagle is part of The Seattle Times logo; I strongly suggest it be replaced with a vulture).

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