Seattle P-I announces its plan: Last print edition tomorrow

We know many folks have been waiting for word of a decision on the P-I’s fate, and it’s now been announced: Posted minutes ago at the Seattle P-I website — its final print edition will be tomorrow; an online-only P-I will continue, making the Post-Intelligencer “the nation’s largest daily newspaper to shift to an entirely digital news product.” For a window into what’s being said about this online right now, go here for a real-time look at notes on Twitter mentioning the P-I. ADDED 11:12 AM: You knew there’d be a West Seattle angle, of course. An item now up at SeattlePI.com talks about the new web-only operation, and it’s by executive producer Michelle Nicolosi, who is a West Seattleite. Meantime, here’s P-I video of the announcement made at their HQ this morning:

Note in the accompanying story that a Hearst executive is quoted as saying, “We’ll also be linking to the great work of other Web sites and blogs in the community.” WSB is among them (as noted in the 7th-to-last paragraph here) – some of the most eagle-eyed WSBers noted a couple weeks ago when WSB was in fact the first such outside site with a link to appear on SeattlePI.com (the link was for our coverage of the City Council’s most recent snowstorm-aftermath hearing) – the P-I has since linked to the work of more than a few “other … sites,” which is really online SOP – as we have linked and will continue to link to sites like theirs when they have notable exclusive West Seattle stories. As fellow journalists, we wish those who are staying on with the online P-I, and those who are not (here’s a PSBJ story about severance plans and other business matters), the best of luck as the world of newsgathering and delivery continues to turn … somewhat like a globe. ADDED 1:23 PM: Speaking at his media event to announce Deputy Chief John Diaz as Acting Police Chief, Mayor Nickels says re: the P-I print shutdown, “Tomorrow will be a very sad day in Seattle.” He cited the importance of local-news coverage. ADDED 2:50 PM: Questions in our comments have included “what happens if you’re subscribing to the P-I?” This FAQ is now posted, confirming what commenters have replied – subscriptions are being transferred to the Times.

TeaLady March 16, 2009 (10:53 am)

Debbie March 16, 2009 (11:00 am)

I’ve prepaid my subscription; will I start getting the Times?

add March 16, 2009 (11:08 am)

Wow – I know it’s been “up in the air” for a while but it seems so sudden. Good question about subscriptions – you would think they would send some kind of notification to subscribers?

TeaLady March 16, 2009 (11:24 am)

I heard a report on the radio that suggested you need to call the subscription office to make the jump…if you don’t, your balance may just hang around in limbo indefinitely.

AJP March 16, 2009 (11:27 am)

This is the future, I get all my news online now. I don’t even watch TV news.

cjboffoli March 16, 2009 (11:39 am)

This is a good move. Today we might read the PI on a computer, a Kindle or an iPhone. In the near future we will very likely read it on a new coming generation of super-light, full-color, flat plastic displays that roll up or fold. These devices will update themselves wirelessly with the most current news. In the not too distant future the notion of cutting down trees and printing on paper will seem ridiculous.

WSB March 16, 2009 (11:42 am)

Checking for sure but — I posed the question on Twitter and according to the first answer, P-I subscribers will get the Times for the duration. Looking for formal link now. One subscriber cites the circulation office as giving that answer (see a couple comments into this P-I thread:
http://blog.seattlepi.com/whatsnew/archives/164244.asp
)

jgo March 16, 2009 (11:47 am)

I called the Times this morning and they said I’d automatically start receiving the Times when the PI stopped.

Sue March 16, 2009 (12:10 pm)

I haven’t bought a newspaper in years, but I do read them online, and the PI was my preference over the Times. About 5-6 years ago when I contemplated my move from the NYC area to Seattle, I decided to have a mail subscription to the PI for 6 months or so to get a sense of the area. So for nostaligic purposes, I will miss the paper. And I’m sorry for those losing jobs now as a result of this change.

Jo B March 16, 2009 (12:19 pm)

news online is good..

but even though the PI retained a few of the good investigative reporters from the PI for their on-line format..
it’s believed that investigative reporting from them is pretty much a thing of the past…

The PI is becoming more of a news aggregator from local sources… not so much of a new producer.

i mourn the loss to investigative journalism.

Irukandji March 16, 2009 (12:25 pm)

Man, I don’t want The Seattle Times. Looks like WSB and NYT for us!

mae March 16, 2009 (12:28 pm)

As a long time subscriber to the PI, I am surprised they didn’t notify us about the last paper or what happens to our paid subscription now. I do plenty of online reading but my morning ritual has been to read to paper at the kitchen table. It’s just not the same without getting newsprint on my elbows.

I’m not a fan of the Times so guess I’ll just try to ease into the change.

BobLoblaw March 16, 2009 (12:35 pm)

Bob Loblaw mourns for his former employer, but will definitely read them online as my new local news source (Well, outside WS that is).

Ken March 16, 2009 (2:05 pm)

I spotted a bad sign today.

the online version of the PI will be parroting/outsourcing its political coverage to “politico”

This is how a once great paper starts to decompose.

http://www.seattlepi.com/politico/403706_politico20015.html

An upbeat feel good interview with a war criminal, paranoid megalomaniac and traitor.

The times has never gotten a dime from me and they certainly won’t now.

I was prepared to buy an online subscription to the PI if they offered one, but that dream has died as well.

WSGeek March 16, 2009 (2:21 pm)

I guess I’ll look for the Times on Wednesday. Can anyone say what the main difference is? Is it much more conservative than the PI?

WSB March 16, 2009 (2:49 pm)

Will leave it to others to answer that, as it’s of course quite subjective. As for the subscriber questions, this FAQ is now up:
http://www.seattletimescompany.com/faq/pifaq_subscriber.htm

Kayleigh March 16, 2009 (2:55 pm)

I’m very bummed about the PI and worried about the future of investigative journalism.
.
My perception is that the Times is moderate to left in its editorials, sometimes vaguely pro-business and pro-accumulation-of-wealth…to the right of the PI, IMO.
.
I just renewed my subscription to the Times, which I’ve read for decades, but I honestly wonder if I am getting my money’s worth.

meg March 16, 2009 (3:41 pm)

From a PI reporter, on what’s been lost (and a mention of WSB, at the end):

http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2009/03/16/what_s_been_lost_lewis_kamb

OP March 16, 2009 (3:45 pm)

Bias, agenda-driven reporting and regurgitation of far-left wing policies and talking points on the editorial pages, not to mention opinion pages where liberal syndicated columnists routinely outnumbered conservative columnists by 3-1 (and sometimes more) and I should be sad? Good heavens, no. What’s amazing is that this paper failed in this town. Absolutely perplexing. I don’t whether that means Seattle liberals are too cheap or too smart to pay for their news.

The Times….(is) to the right of the PI, IMO.

Kayleigh, only the Stranger is to the left of the PI, FYI.

brandon March 16, 2009 (11:23 pm)

I miss seeing that orange tube box on a post, 75 feet from the house, mounted out on the street. As a youngster, the right of passage of racing my siblings out at 7 in the morning in rain, frost and underwear to bring in the daily news for mom and dad, back in the day. Of sitting at the kitchen table, dad drinking coffee and smoking a cigarette, eating breakfast, reading the news cover to cover. Waiting for the chance to get my own section, to see Dagwood, Blondie and Beetle Bailey. Did the Sonics win last night? How about the Totems? What else happened in the Sports world? I could have cared less about Editorial positions, left wing right wing unless there was a puck, and why it mattered. It was news, it was fresh, and it was delivered each and every morning. I delivered the Times for 5 years because I hated the thought of getting up at 4 am to deliver papers, but I enoyed reading the PI as the source of what happened overnight, while we slept.
Today, flicking on the computer monitor, sitting in pj’s, staring at a piece of cold plastic, its just not the same. Ever. Again. I’ll take a newspaper. Every day. I like getting instantaneous updates all day long. But having a piece of the news each morning you could call your own and taking it with you, that has changed. I miss that smack-off-the-screen-door bang that told me a new day just hit my doorstep.
RIP Seattle PI. You wil always be a fond memory of my childhood.

dch March 17, 2009 (2:15 am)

“What’s amazing is that this paper failed in this town. Absolutely perplexing. I don’t whether that means Seattle liberals are too cheap or too smart to pay for their news.”
ABSOLUTELY AGREE!!!!!!!!!!

Kayleigh March 17, 2009 (5:36 am)

OP, I can’t see the journalism in The Stranger through the sneering and endless stories that can be sumamrized as: “look at my sexuality/coolness/hipness”. I don’t take it seriously as a newspaper.

carraig na splinkeen March 17, 2009 (7:04 am)

Thanks to a few of you for the economics lesson—that liberals are “cheap.”
Yes, we know what wonderful spenders conservatives are, evidenced from these last 8 years. Whoo-hoo!
Why the P-I, and many other newspapers, are failing in their current format goes way beyond liberal or conservative leanings.

OP March 17, 2009 (8:55 am)

Thanks to a few of you for the economics lesson—that liberals are “cheap.”

I said I didn’t know what the PI’s failure meant. I honestly don’t know why the liberal PI failed in a liberal town.

Why the P-I, and many other newspapers, are failing in their current format goes way beyond liberal or conservative leanings.

I’m curious, what’s your theory?

RS March 17, 2009 (12:51 pm)

Um, maybe it failed because it doesn’t do any investigative journalism anymore but only prints wire stories? Or maybe it failed because SO many people read their news online? If I want national news, I read the NYT online. If I want international news, I read BBC online. If I want local news, I read WSB or the Times. If I want boring syndicated columnists spouting off about something that I don’t care about… oh wait, I don’t. Next.

Sorry, comment time is over.