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Friday, November 21, 2008

2008 The Balance of Reportorial Angst

Posted by Eli Sanders on Fri, Nov 21, 2008 at 2:41 PM

This isn't based on anything more than conversations and inferences (and conversations about inferences), but it seems worth noting that I'm picking up something I haven't heard before in the Seattle media world.

In the past, most of the speculation about the Seattle Times vs. Seattle P-I death match involved scenarios in which the P-I eventually ceased to publish. This was especially true, of course, when the people doing the speculating were employees of the Times. (But not at all exclusive to Times-employed speculators.)

Lately, with word that the Seattle Times Company is selling off its Maine newspapers and cutting staff for the third time this year (with newsroom staffing expected to be down 25 percent year-over-year by the time it's all over), I'm hearing that people inside the Times are suddenly starting to consider a scenario they've so far failed to take seriously: that theirs will be the Seattle daily that ceases to publish.

That's not a prediction of what will happen in the future. But it is a sign that the balance of reportorial angst in the city may be shifting.

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I sure hope so. The Times has become a rag and hit piece for whoever pisses off the Blethens. What gets printed from the Times the last year has been absolutely strange.

Posted by StC on November 21, 2008 at 3:04 PM

Vehement ditto of #1.

I have no idea how anyone with critical thinking skills would find it a good enterprise to send subscription money to The Daily Blethen.

Posted by nater on November 21, 2008 at 3:17 PM

Hearst has the right of first refusal for any sale of the Times. They paid Blethen a bunch of money to get it, and Blethen was glad to take it.

He joked at the time that it was "like selling them the sleeves off our vest." The implication was, of course, that because the Blethens never, ever would sell the Times, the joke was on Hearst, haha.

But those of us in the Newspaper Guild at the time who didn't have their noses up Frank's ass knew that Hearst had way, way deeper pockets than Frank and could afford to take the long view, bleed him dry, and force him to sell.

The Times is circling the drain now, and much of its plight is due to Frank's incompetence and mismanagement, and atrocious business judgment. That is matched only by his arrogance, which requires that he surround himself with yes men and women in management who will never call bullshit on him.

The Hearst organization is no prize, but it is better at running a newspaper than Frank Blethen and his stupid children, by far.

I would rather have Seattle be a two-newspaper town, even with Frank Blethen, than a one-newspaper town without him. But, if Seattle is destined to be a one-newspaper town, better IMO that we have Hearst and the P-I.

Posted by ivan on November 21, 2008 at 3:24 PM

I've been reading for years that either the P-I or the Times would turn into a tabloid like The New York Post, but it has yet to happen.

Posted by elswinger on November 21, 2008 at 3:39 PM

Revenge is a dish best served cold.

With a dog shot by the owner beside it.

Posted by Will in Seattle on November 21, 2008 at 4:05 PM

I'm even more pleased with myself for not taking that job with nwsource.

Posted by w7ngman on November 21, 2008 at 4:05 PM

No matter which one of the dailies folds first, there will be plenty of cherry-picking going on. It's not as though the entire PI staff will remain intact nor will every Times employee be guaranteed a job. I'd had to see Seattle end up being a one-newspaper town, but we could end up with a better product.

Posted by Gilligan on November 22, 2008 at 8:04 AM