On Tuesday March 17th the final print edition of the Seattle Post Intelligencer was published. This marked the end of printing for the city’s oldest newspaper, which was 146 years old. The PI is survived by a much smaller online version of itself, Seattle’s other daily newspaper, the Seattle Times, and several smaller local papers like the Stranger.
The end of the PI comes of no surprise to most people as the newspaper has been in financial trouble for months and had been put up for sale on January 9th. According to Hearst Newspapers the PI lost $14 million dollars last year. The major financial losses for the paper were driven by the continual increase of readers switching to the online format instead of paper, and the decrease of ad revenue because of free online alternatives.
The closure of the PI highlights the general path the journalism in America is heading. Like the PI other print newspaper are struggling financially from similar symptoms. According to the Department of Labor, in 2008 more than 22,000 newspaper jobs were lost. Instead of paying for print newspapers or magazines, citizens prefer to get there news from free online sources like blogs and online newspapers. Who can blame them, why pay for something when you can get it legally for free?
The problem is that along with the decline in newspapers comes a decline in the quality of journalism and reporting offered. Blogs like this one make it easier than ever to get opinions on subjects published, but without newspapers (and customers) to pay journalists it becomes harder and harder to uncover new and important story lines.
In Time Magazine, Walter Isaacson argues that to save newspaper’s and journalism new and innovative sources of revenue are needed. Isaacson suggests that a pay per view or online subscription fee by implemented. In the pay per view system a small fee, 2-10 cents, would be charged for reading an article. The online subscription fee works just like it sounds, a repeated subscription fee is charged for access to online content.
So as newspapers at home and around the country change how and if they charge for their content remember the Seattle PI and don’t immediately recoil in fear.
Sources: Seattle Times, Seattle PI, Time Magazine
