Slog - Comments on Sign of The Times

Comment by Non

Non — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 14:40:53 -0800

Thank you, Paul, for acknowledging that a decrease in press is not funny, cute, or snarky.

Comment by Greg

Greg — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 14:48:22 -0800

Sure it is. How many staff jobs could be kept if Frank sold his fancy car and tightened his belt a little bit?

Comment by Andy Niable

Andy Niable — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 14:52:16 -0800

Gosh, I bet they hope their boy endorsed boy Rossi won't make things worse (cough) if he gets elected.

Comment by Will in Seattle

Will in Seattle — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 14:54:51 -0800

Of course, the Wall Street Journal increased circulation 2.4 percent ....

Adapt or die.

Comment by Sachi Wilson

Sachi Wilson — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 15:02:28 -0800

What's the big deal? The Stranger, after all, is Seattle's Only Newspaper. :-)

Comment by elenchos

elenchos — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 15:04:17 -0800

I've been looking forward to this. I hate the Seattle Times' reporting and I wish they'd make room for something better.

Comment by kk

kk — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 15:16:34 -0800

I've subscribed to the Times for decades. I should have quit when they became a morning paper (as I enjoyed reading the paper when I got home, and their analysis of the day's events was usually pretty good), but I didn't. In the last year or two, they seem to have fallen off the cliff. Mostly stale NYT wire stories, now that the NYT permits that. There are far fewer pages, they have cut the op-ed section in half and basically do not print letters to the editor, and their obsession with the inheritance tax (and their consequent support of Rossi, Bush, etc.) is going to be their undoing. Even the features are now in a hard to read format most days. It's hard to imagine the paper getting worse than it is, and I don't expect them to be around much longer. Sad, because some of the McClatchy papers I read (Tacoma, Anchorage) are pretty good.

Comment by Greg F.

Greg F. — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 15:35:47 -0800

If you think the Times going away would make room for something better, you're mistaken. It would make room for nothing. Sure, we can get news online, but that's not the same as an involved local paper. It may not be ideal now, but papers change over time...wish for it to improve, not die. Soon we'll get all our news from Fox anyway, I suppose...

Comment by please

please — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 15:39:01 -0800

Honestly, big frickin' deal. There are greater numbers of layoffs happening all around us. A measly 10% at the Times doesn't really mean shit.

Comment by max solomon

max solomon — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 15:39:45 -0800

just merge the remaining scraps of the PI & the Times. maybe combined they can put out something but yesterdays' NYT stories.

otherwise, utterly useless except for estate sale announcements.

Comment by DOUG.

DOUG. — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 16:10:29 -0800

Maybe Frank should've spent as much energy in the past 8 years building a quality newspaper as he did railing against the estate tax, gunning for the P-I and breaking the Unions.

This time and under these circumstances, we believe the overpowering need for integrity and civility in office, for a realistic balance between government and commerce, for a new, bipartisan era to confront the needs of the nation all point to the election of George W. Bush.

Comment by Andrew

Andrew — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 16:17:27 -0800

I wish this could have happened last year, and lindblom lost his job before ranting against Prop. 1 in "news" pieces for the times.

Comment by elenchos

elenchos — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 16:26:36 -0800

Old Seattle Sez:

Stop hoping for anything better! It ain't gettin' no better in Seattle, so be satisfied with it. Anyhow, it was good enough when Old Seattle was growin' up. Why ain't it good enough for you?

Thanks, Old Seattle! Now shuffle off.

Comment by j_me

j_me — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 17:05:14 -0800

Having negative comments toward Blethen or the product itself is one thing, but how about a little compassion toward community members losing jobs? Harsh.

Comment by All Hail Our InterWeb Overlords!

All Hail Our InterWeb Overlords! — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 17:11:30 -0800

But now with their new "Sound Off!" clone, the Times will have the kind of intelligent rational citizen journalism that makes so-called "professional reporters" obsolete!

Comment by guy

guy — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 18:25:00 -0800

Aquisition! I want a daily Stranger!