Mar 18 2009
The end of an era–We will miss the P-I
On Monday, March 16, 2009, we all received news of the inevitable—the Seattle Post-Intelligencer as we know it printed its final edition for the Tuesday (March 17, 2009) circulation. The paper, which began in 1863, is 146 years old and is our City’s oldest business. It is a casualty of changing times which have been exacerbated by the current economic recession. The P-I will still continue to run as an online publication with 20-25 professional news staff, but a majority of the 167 employees will lose their jobs. According to a representative from the Hearst Corporation, the online version will be “a new type of digital business with a robust, community news and information web site at its core.” I am pleased that the P-I will continue online at least. However, I believe that we are losing a significant piece of our city which lends itself to creating a balanced discussion of news and issues.
I am not sure which journalists will remain as part of the online enterprise. But, I usually begin my day with a cup of coffee and the writings and views of Joel Connelly, Art Thiel, Angela Galloway, Robert Jamieson, Kathy Mulady and others. That, I will miss.
While I embrace change and moving forward, I also believe some of the mortar that locks this great City together is slowly chipping away. Slowly but surely, some of our distinctive cultural icons are disappearing. The SuperSonics, Chubby-n-Tubby, Twin Tee Pees, and now the P-I—we will all adjust and move on, but at the end of the day we must acknowledge that we are losing another element of the cloth that makes our City great. New elements and institutions will take over and our City will continue its greatness. But, as a life-long Seattle resident, it is hard to believe I will not see the P-I on my desk anymore. I am sure I am not alone in keeping the last edition from Tuesday.
Photo credit: Seattle P-I
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