"Almost 200 daily newspapers have folded in the past 10 years and in markets like Seattle, two competing papers are very rare," wrote Seattle Times business reporter Eric Pryne early this year.
Today, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer (1863-2009) sadly joins these ranks.
The end of an old friend (I subscribed in August, 1974, when first in Seattle) is always a loss. As with a great many, I'll miss the paper's bias, columnists like friend Joel Connelly, Robert Jamieson, Art Thiel (before I lost him to the sports pages), and, of course, David Horsey's great editorial cartoons.
But more than just the loss of a daily morning friend, I find myself saddened and concerned about the slow but sure loss of the print media. It was last October when I read that the Christian Science Monitor, for many the newspaperman's newspaper, would be closing down its print edition (except for a weekly edition) in April and moving to a daily online-by-subscription edition. The Monitor would be 100-years old this November.
In a previous life-time I worked very closely with the press. News editor managing all Canadian Army news stories and releases, liaison with the parliament press gallery (Canadian version of the White House press corps), press officer during the United Nations operations in the Belgium Congo (and by default filing for Time Magazine, the Canadian Press, United Press International), as well as being named an honorary life member of the National Press Club of Canada. While not in any way claiming to be a professional journalist, I do carry a healthy bias for the media. And it so troubles me to see what is happening.
My concern now is the loss of news in depth, and hence, the loss of being informed. TV and radio news, while very immediate, for the most part barely scratch the surface of a story; news items are really only a story's "lead paragraph", and the morning's network shows, which do include some news, are primarily magazines. Few TV or on-line reporters have time to be specialists in their fields - - sports reporters the exception. Internet news is limited (the PI will continue as 'SeattlePI.com'). Can you imagine scrolling down through 90 column-inches of print on a single story or article on your BlackBerry or Kindle? Well, maybe on your Kindle.
The editorial side (i.e. the news) of print media is dependent on advertising income, and internet news advertising income is very small by comparison. When the Christian Science Monitor moves to the internet it says that its current news room staff of 95 will experience "a modest reduction", speculated by insiders as meaning down to no more than 25. And so the ability and quality of reporting goes down as well.
This is a period of extreme financial difficulty for all news organizations. Arthur Sulzberger Jr., publisher of the New York Times, was asked at a conference in California last October whether the Times would be a print product in 10 years. "The heart of the answer must be (that) we can't care," Sulzberger said. He added that "we must be where people want us for our information."
A few summers ago we were moored at Cap Sante, Anacortes. Our new-found dock neighbors were ever so delightful, sharing fresh barbecued oysters, and flowers, with us. He is a retired owner/executive with the Seattle Times. Their boat, with the proper Seattle Times logo and type, is named "Final Edition".
I'm sorry and sad to see any final editions.
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