Report: Seattle P-I likely to close

Well played.

 

If they moved to Oklahoma City, they'd have to leave the Post-Intelligencer name behind like their brethren.

 

And then come up with a new name that goes over like a lead balloon.

 

I have my doubts about the TV report, but nothing surprises me about this business anymore. I can only imagine the thoughts racing through the staff's mind. I hope for them.

 

DFW doesn't count as a two-newspaper town. Their circulations only overlap in Arlington, the Mid-Cities and southern Denton County.

 

Yeah, something that lacks creativity and turns off people immediately.

Like the Oklahoma City Newspaper.

 

Nothing would surprise me, either. But a few things make me skeptical about the report.

Chief among them is that Hearst can retain its right of first refusal to buy the Seattle Times in exchange for another $1 million payment in 2009. With Blethen struggling financially, it would seem a worthwhile gamble for Hearst to stick around in Seattle and see what happens on that front. Less than two years ago, in exchange for Blethen agreeing to keep the JOA alive until 2016, Hearst sold off its ability to collect 32 percent of the Seattle Times' profits through 2083 if the P-I were to fold, so it would appear that Hearst was thinking longterm about the P-I and that it has no financial incentive to close the paper now. And Hearst is privately held, and has been more patient than most newspaper companies.

http://www.king5.com/business/stories/NW_042407BUBtime_piagreementSW.4b23ce8.html

 

York, Pa.

 

I'm waiting to see what the details might be. The idea that Hearst would just fold, after all it's been through to stay alive in the market between the strike and the lawsuits, is tough to fathom. The Times would have to have offered a shitload of money to Hearst. I can only assume Hearst would pass that money along to the hundreds of employees whose lives this would wreck. :

 

true or not, skim the comments. a couple supportive and reasonable ... but the rest .... makes me a bit ill and a lot pissed that these are our 'customers.'

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Didnt need 2 papers anyway. Always the same articles in each paper. Hopefully the surviving paper can now afford to get decent reporters??? Naaah doubt it.
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What's the difference between Gov. Sarah Palin and the left wing writers at the PI?
Sarah Palin has a job.
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I can only hope I aided the demise of this leftist rag by leaving it in a public area for others to read for free when I finished it. Hey, I gotta know how the other side is thinking. Next?
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The Seattle Post Intelligencer died a long time ago, its about time this rag got a clue an admitted jornalistic defeat.

Good riddance.
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It's about time this liberal rag ceased to exist. Just think of all of trees we will save. Save a tree and stop the biased B.S..

It's a win-win. Don't worry, be happy!
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wha?

people actually still read newsPAPERS?

no loss
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The PI has always had better comic strips than the Times. As long as the Times adds most of the PI's I won't notice the difference.
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More Obama Supporter Lay-Offs. Couldn't have happened to a more sanctimonious bunch of liberals.
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It absolutely shocks me how places like York, Pa., Wilkes-Barre, Pa. and Fort Wayne can support two dailies. What do these people know that people in Detroit, Seattle and elsewhere are missing?

I watched metro dailies in Dallas and Houston die in the early 1990s. It really is sad the number of lives that are impacted.

 

Thanks for another reminder about why I never read reader comments.

Like Mr. Babar pointed out, it doesn't make sense for Hearst to cut the cord now. They've spent a hell of a lot of money to keep the P-I going and to be in position to buy the Times if it ever comes up for sale (which could very well happen).