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Friday, January 9, 2009

City / Media Last Days

Posted by Eli Sanders on Fri, Jan 9, 2009 at 4:00 PM

No matter how you feel about the P-I or the decline of newspapers in general, this video of today's announcement that the P-I will be put up for sale is heartbreaking:

Watch the man in the background. That's David McCumber, the P-I's managing editor, fidgeting, rubbing his eyes, trying to hold it together. The sound of the police scanner still going, and of the phones still ringing, while the man from Hearst tells everyone that it's over for the paper as they know it. You want to say it's like something out of season five of The Wire, which it is, but of course the video was recorded (digitally, another one of those signs) just this afternoon, only a few miles from where you're sitting right now.

A newspaper that's existed in this city since 1863 has, most likely, only 60 more days.

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I blame The Stranger. I bet the P-I would still be around if had bright, color ads for prostitutes for hobos to jerk off to.

Posted by Yardlie on January 9, 2009 at 4:04 PM

I really feel for everyone who is directly impacted as a result of this. It is heartbreaking to watch this video.

Posted by Brad on January 9, 2009 at 4:08 PM

I blame Frank Blethen's penchant for killing defenseless dogs.

Posted by Will in Seattle on January 9, 2009 at 4:09 PM

Man that's depressing, all the more depressing for how many times I've been in a meeting like that (none of those jobs were journalism related; I just know how to pick doomed companies to work at I guess)...

Posted by My Name Here on January 9, 2009 at 4:09 PM

1863. Seattle was just a muddy village then.

They have the coolest name of any newspaper in the country, too. Intelligencer -- it sounds like bulletins from the truth.

Posted by Fnarf on January 9, 2009 at 4:12 PM

During the tech bust 8 years ago, I closely followed David Cook's layoff tracker. Now it looks like the layoff tracker has paid a visit to Elliott Ave. Shit.

Posted by Joe M on January 9, 2009 at 4:14 PM

It really is a shame. Seriously, it is a much more serious and adult paper than the Seattle Times.

I was kind of hoping Hearst would come in and crush the silly Times. I guess not.

Posted by Catalina Vel-DuRay on January 9, 2009 at 4:15 PM

the man fidgeting in the background looks like he's never missed a meal. not sure why anybody should feel sorry for a paper that is no longer relevant. what purpose does it serve? world news is better directly from the source, local news is better from neighborhood blogs and slog. i see no use for the PI and hope the door doesn't hit them on the way out. here's hoping the Seattle Times eats shit and dies soon too.

Posted by Sigh-A-Nara Dipshits on January 9, 2009 at 4:20 PM

"local news is better from neighborhood blogs and slog."

Yeah, Goldy will cover politics, and ECB will not make as many errors in the future.

Posted by meh on January 9, 2009 at 4:31 PM

@8,

What the hell are you talking about? More people read P-I content now than ever have in its entire history.

Blogs have shit for news (gregoire is commerce secretary!), so does TV (cat in a tree!).

Posted by andrew on January 9, 2009 at 4:36 PM

@8 Outside of sheer stupidity, what drives your anger and hatred toward news organizations? Seriously. That is just one of the dumbest, strangest posts I've ever read in my life.

Posted by heywhatsit on January 9, 2009 at 4:37 PM

Sigh-a-nara: if nothing else, we should feel sorry for all the people about to be put out of work. And if you seriously think we should all get our news from press releases (that's what you mean by "from the source," right? 'cause you're not going to get direct access to Gordon Brown) and neighborhood blogs, well... just think about that one again. Wave a magic wand and destroy all the country's newspapers tonight and see what happens tomorrow when the blogosphere has nothing to link to. You, my friend, are a fool.

Posted by Darren Meshach on January 9, 2009 at 4:39 PM

@10 if blogs have shit for news, what was the point of your link to the seattle transit blog?

sorry but i haven't heard about something first from the PI since at least 2004.

do you subscribe to the PI?

Posted by Sigh-A-Nara Dipshits on January 9, 2009 at 4:40 PM

@8, don't be such an asshole. Just what do you contribute to society? Are you certain it can't be outsourced, or that you won't become obsolete?

I've seen many a manly "IT Professional" break down and cry like a little tiny girl when the company they work for dared to tell them they were no longer needed. They thought they were invincible, but they turned out to be the just another TV repairman. Maybe that will happen to you soon!

Posted by HR Bitch on January 9, 2009 at 4:50 PM

those dumbasses in the video are members of the guild that went on strike in 2000 and fucked both the times and pi by doing so both lost a shit load fo money preparing for the strike and during it. I hope the pi rots in hell and that the times can pull its ass out of the fire and not do the predicted layoffs in feb.

Posted by flibble on January 9, 2009 at 4:52 PM

@13: you're a fool. If you're not seeing news in the P-I, you don't know what's happening. Half the stories in the Slog's news coverage came from the P-I; almost all of them came from a traditional news source somewhere. Blogs have a LONG way to go to pick up the slack, and I'm quite certain that they never will. Their coverage of what's happening in the salons of Pike and Pine may be limited, but in the real city, they do a fantastic job of covering the real lives of its citizens. City Hall isn't everything.

Posted by Fnarf on January 9, 2009 at 4:53 PM

@13
I run the Seattle Transit blog, and I know the level of research and news that's put into our blog (not bad as far as some go) or slog (basically the best one in terms of effort, but seriously, Commerce secretary? Even I knew that one wasn't true) compared to the P-I.

Posted by andrew on January 9, 2009 at 4:54 PM

I'm stunned and dismayed that the loser in this battle appears to be the P-I instead of the Suburban Times. All I can say is I hope some of the P-I's best talent makes it over to the Times where they can create a stronger paper. Remember when we were all fired up about keeping two newspapers in town? Now I'm just hoping we'll be able to have one.

And Sigh-A-Nara, "first" isn't the best or only measure of quality in news. Here's a blog post I wrote in 2005 on why newspapers are still relevant. It's all still true: http://www.mynameiskate.com/blog/2005/11…

And yes, I'm a P-I subscriber.

Posted by mynameiskate on January 9, 2009 at 4:54 PM

Spoken like a true dumbshit and corporate sheep, flibble. Can you maybe stick your tongue just a little farther up your bosses ass? He didn't have a chance to get his high colonic this week.

See you on the unemployment line!

Posted by dibble on January 9, 2009 at 4:54 PM

The video is such a great example of Hearst management at the core. The guy is so arrogant. He says, "We love this product." It's a newspaper, buddy. It's like he can't bring himself to say the words. Or maybe he can't rememer which Hearst "property" he's visiting with bad news today, Oprah magazine, the PI, whatever ...

And then he says, "They said I cannot take questions at this point." They? Who? How dare a newspaper executive tell a bunch of reporters they can't ask questions.

Posted by What a jerk on January 9, 2009 at 4:57 PM

I am so going to miss the P.I. This is a very sad day for Seattle.

Posted by crazycatguy on January 9, 2009 at 5:16 PM

I can't watch the whole thing - it's too depressing.

I've been a PI reader since I moved here almost 20 years ago. I don't have a subscription now (my workplace has one), but I have in the past. I do get a lot of national news updates online, but for local news I've always gone to the PI - it really is a shame.

I'd have been a bit sad even if this had happened to the Times - but really, if one has to fold, why can't it be them?

Posted by genevieve on January 9, 2009 at 5:24 PM

The P-I is the city's paper, the times is the suburbs'.

Times is shit

Posted by andrew on January 9, 2009 at 5:25 PM

Great acting, but I thought the script and writing could have been better. The "CSI" product placement was a bit disingenuous, though.

Posted by the pee eye on January 9, 2009 at 5:31 PM

This is one of the saddest things I've seen - I've worked with some of these folks at the three dailies I've been at in the past. That Hearst-bot is no better than a Gannettoid drone and he probably memorized names on an index card 10 minutes before he made his speech. My heart goes out to my PI pals - fuck, it goes out to all my friends left in the biz. The real loser? You, "dear" reader.

Posted by W.R. spins in his grave on January 9, 2009 at 5:51 PM

Can anyone give me some non-ambiguous reasons as to why I should give a fuck?

Specific investigations the P-I has broke, etc..

I mean, sure, it's not the Bellevue Reporter, but how is it really much better than the Times or even The Stranger or Weekly?

Again, be specific.

Posted by Sammie on January 9, 2009 at 6:39 PM

Sammie, don't be a dork: A daily paper cannot be compared to a weekly. It's like comparing dogs and cats.

And if you can't tell the difference between the Times and the PI, you're either illiterate or retarded.

Posted by Retards shouldn't slog on January 9, 2009 at 6:42 PM

RetardsSS,

I'm sorry about your job situation, but again, if you can't point out specific examples of the P-I's exceptional coverage, than you're just talking out of your ass.

Posted by Sammie on January 9, 2009 at 6:52 PM

I feel sorry for Roger, the editors and the staff. There's nothing funny about this.

Posted by Jubilation T. Cornball on January 9, 2009 at 6:54 PM

The Hearst guy was just so....smarmy and it was like he was giving a eulogy for some guy he never really knew.

Posted by gfrancie on January 9, 2009 at 7:22 PM

Oh The Stranger, hold me....

I liked the PI well enough, but not nearly as much as I HATE the Times.

Posted by Keo on January 9, 2009 at 7:39 PM

Via Romenesko: 1/09/09 -- Hearst donates $100,000 to commissioning of George H.W. Bush aircraft carrier

http://hamptonroads.com/2009/01/donors-p…

Posted by Brian on January 9, 2009 at 7:42 PM

It'll be really cool when the New Times buys the Stranger. They'll sell. They're poor.

Posted by There, dear reader on January 9, 2009 at 7:56 PM

I'm a copy editor at a paper in Washington state (not one of the Seattle papers), and this is incredibly depressing.

It's a scary, scary time in this profession, particularly if you're a young journalist who truly believes in the importance of newspapers and who can't imagine wanting to work in another industry. There was a definite dark cloud hanging around my newsroom today. I feel absolutely terrible for everyone who works at the PI. It feels like we're all waiting for the day the layoffs hit our paper, but I can't imagine how awful it must feel to have been there today.

Posted by jp on January 9, 2009 at 8:07 PM

It's early, but has anyone heard a price floated for the PI? Wonder if Paul Allen will bite...

Posted by yelahneb on January 9, 2009 at 10:31 PM

Fuck you #8, and fuck you Sammie.

Posted by crap bag on January 9, 2009 at 11:16 PM

You totally nailed it with The Wire comparison. Dude's a ringer for Carcetti, and the drama in the background (fidgeting, tearing up, interns racing across camera with paperwork) looks like a Hollywood east-coast newspaper office reenactment. Classic.

Posted by Yawn. on January 10, 2009 at 10:04 AM

@26,

For one great example, they did a great series called "Conduct Unbecoming" about problems in the SPD.

I could Google up a dozen more (the PI has broken a whole lot more stories and published many more in-depth features than the Times over the last 20 years), but I'll let you do that yourself.

Posted by Mr. X on January 10, 2009 at 11:19 AM

In response to the question about why we should care more about the PI than the Seattle Times: the PI has David Horsey, Art Thiel and Joel Connelly - all of whom have been loyal scribes for that particular publication for decades and bring amazing perspective and drive to their writing. And please don't forget the perspective of its editorial page team led by Mark Trahant. Also, the PI's staff as a whole have been true underdogs, consistently doing more with less than the Seattle Times. The journalists at either paper have experience and professionalism rivaled by very few bloggers. Having two professional dailies has kept them both working harder because they compete for subscribers. It's certainly not unexpected that one would fold, but a loss nonetheless -- and sad to see the newsroom that has worked harder to be as good - and the one that in terms of its editorial leaning represents more of Seattle's readers - be the one to go.

Posted by Sleepless in Bothell on January 11, 2009 at 11:14 PM