Speaking of The Big Clock, this arrived earlier today from a reader apparently wrapped up in the stimulus bill debates:

Hey Eli,

Thanks for all the coverage about Hearst and the future of the P-I. Just wondering: How many days are left in Hearst's 60-day decision deadline?

I'd look it up myself but I'm glued to C-SPAN right now.

Thanks

This turns out to be a difficult question to answer. In fact, it's almost comical how many different answers are out there right now.

If you ask my calendar, there are 26 days left for the P-I. I got that in a very low-tech way: by placing my finger on January 9th, the day Hearst announced it would be closing down the P-I's print edition if no one bought the paper within 60 days, and then counting forward... 60 days! By doing that, one ends up at March 11th as the last day for a printed P-I to come rumbling off the presses. (Assuming Hearst doesn't find a buyer. Which everyone assumes it won't.)

If you ask the countdown whiteboard in the P-I newsroom how many days are left, today, I am told by a very highly-placed source, it informs you that there are 37 days left. (Even though 32 days ago it said there were 58 days left, and 58 minus 32 does not equal 37. Go figure.)

If you ask Liz Brown, administrator for the Pacific Northwest Newspaper Guild, it's complicated, relating to the federal WARN Act and when Hearst filed notice under said act (hint: notice wasn't filed on the day Hearst announced it was putting the P-I up for sale). But Brown tells me there are no fewer than 33 days left and perhaps as many as (but no more than) 47 days left.

And if you ask Lisa K. Bagley, corporate communications manager for Hearst, she will say only this: "I can confirm mid-March."

Hope that clears it all up!

From what I'm hearing from people inside the P-I, there may be a formal announcement next week stating the true, compliant, and perhaps even non-moving last day.