The Death of P-I?

As both a journalist and (former) Seattlite, it's always been a source of pride that my home town falls in the same category as New York, Chicago and Los Angeles when it comes to newspapers. That is, there are multiple metro dailies.

Until now, perhaps. It's dissapointing -- but hardly surprising -- to hear that the Seattle Post-Intelligencer is up for sale with likely 60 days to live. The P-I's parent company, The Hearst Corp., has reported that the newspaper lost about $14 million in 2008.

For years rumors have persisted that either the P-I or the Times, which share a JOA, wouldn't survive. In such a tumultuous newspaper environment, it's impressive that both papers have lasted this long. There was a time when nearly any big city could support two newspapers -- if not more. But that time has passed, and Seattle is hardly in the same population league as the cities mentioned earlier.

We were always a Times family growing up, and perhaps for no other reason than tradition I kept up on Seattle news with that newspaper's Web site. But I always appreciated the P-I for its reporting, as well as for its iconic spinning globe and, well, funny name.

A quick tangent: It's always a bit odd to see a newspaper report about itself, especially when it's A-1 material. Can you imagine being a staff writer assigned to write your own career obituary?

But back to the big picture. Readers generally have won when there's local newspaper competition. That appears to be gone. Still, the Times won't be the only game in town. The P-I has floated the idea of going Web-only with a small staff. The online publication Crosscut has been a welcome addition, and there certainly is room for more innovative competitors.

Still, make no mistake, journalism in Seattle has taken a big hit.