Seattle PI for sale

[charlabob]

The PI is officially for sale — employees didn’t even know about it until yesterday. (This is posted on the front page of the blog, but I thought a discussion here would be interesting.) Does it matter to you if newspapers disappear?

If you’ve been following the “P-I for sale?” story

A friend who graduated from J-school with me 30 years ago sent a message saying she hadn’t expected to be present at the “end of newspaper publishing.” I can’t help thinking that’s not a good thing.

Share This

[roundthesound]

Yes it matters if newspapers disappear! It’s just not as easy read the daily news from a computer while sitting on the porcelain throne.

Share This

[flowerpetal]

I’ve been a long time Seattle Times reader; only because Jean Godden wrote for that paper. I used to read the PI when she wrote for them. Now I stay with the Times; and have watched the format change on a regualr basis. Newspapers are in deep doo doo.

I am concerned with ths being a one newspaper town somewhat. Having more than one newspaper creates a “checks and balances” for the other. This may be less the case than 10-20 years ago. There are multiple media sources to provide local news.

For example, I discontinued my West Seattle Herald subscription when the West Seattle Blog gave me what I had been wanting from the Herald and not getting it.

Share This

[inactive]

I would be bummed to see the PI completely disappear. I hope they can remain an online presence. I read it online everyday, along with many others I could never afford on a daily basis. I have to acknowledge that is a better state of affairs for me information wise (not that I know what to DO with all of the info ;)).

Thinking about this reminded me of when I was probably seven or so and my dad teaching me to read the PI in the morning while he had his coffee. He showed me where the comics he read were: Beetle Bailey. :)

roundthesound – you can get an iphone or pda with internet access in there, ya’ know, and not miss a day of the PI. Well, not for $.50, but still… ;).

Share This

[HMC Rich]

I wonder who will buy it? I wish I could.

I do not see any concrete evidence (yet) that this is happening. There are too many rumours. Although those rumors might be true.

There have been times that the Stranger or even our West Seattle Herald have delved into city politics and local news better than he P.I. It lost some to many moderate to right wing readers a while ago.

If it can’t compete in the marketplace, then I say change or let it go. I can’t imagine it really going away but I can see it getting bought and re-tooled and not just closing like the unconfirmed news stories are reporting.

There is way too much conjecture at the moment. Maybe some facts will pop up shortly.

Share This

[JoB]

i recently learned that one of the casualties of newspaper’s decline is the newspapers in the classroom program…

that was a great resource for teaches and not all schools have the kind of technology available in every classroom to replace them…

Share This

[WSB]

Technology access is one of the main valid concerns that arise when this is discussed in new-media circles, and while I am on record elsewhere as saying now’s the time to give up the dead trees and gas-burning trucks and get everybody online – some assistance will be needed in the transition to make sure some aren’t cut off from the information. I’m not sure if they’re accessing it now even in its allegedly more-accessible format, though, but it’s clear that access to news isn’t the only reason to get a computer into every home. Maybe the technologically visionary new administration will have some ideas on this.

Also in the media-circle discussions, by the way, you often hear the complaint that newspapers can’t give up print because their online ads don’t bring in enough money. One of the local publishers (I was listening to the online video rather than watching, so I don’t know which paper) admitted in a recent Seattle Channel show that the old-media orgs are to blame – they totally ignored online advertising or threw it into deals as a freebie. I saw this happen for years at the TV stations where I worked. Us online evangelists would say, hey, aren’t you guys selling some ads for the website? We’re getting a lot of interest, adding new content, etc. And they would basically say, online schmonline, we gotta go sell some more spots (broadcast commercials). The publisher’s quote was, “we trained (advertisers) to pay low online rates.”

Having a regional old-media company, though, really was a license to print money for a long time. Commercials and ads were priced too high, and the profit margins were far into double digits. (And yes, I benefited from that by making a very nice salary in TV for years, so I’m complicit somehow.) Last year we decided to buy classifieds to advertise Community Garage Sale Day (hey! four months from today!) in a couple of weeklies around the city and were shocked at how much we had to pay. (Display ads were out of the question – even a small one-time-only ad would have cost us more than we charge at WSB for an entire month of an ad that will be seen here more times in one day than the newspaper ad would have been seen in that one run.) Maybe it wasn’t always that way – maybe they have had to jack up rates to try to compensate for a shrinking number of advertisers – but whatever the case, the effect was nonaffordability.

But all that said, I hope the P-I online-only option will at least come through. The Times is so far behind the times, it only added “reader” commenting options late last year!!!

Share This

[inactive]

Ok, seems like a good time for a mention of the Technology Access Foundation.

http://www.techaccess.org/

Share This

[JimmyG]

I say good-bye and good riddance to the P-I.

Share This

[thee]

shed no tears over the demise of corporate media

–thee

Share This

[Kayleigh2]

“I say goodbye and good riddance to the P-I.”

You’re kidding, right?

Share This

[Author]

Posts