Good Bye Seattle Post Intelligencer, it's been a fun gig:)

[Jim Bryant]

Well folks, I lost my part-time job today. When I started getting less and less work last August I kind of knew it was coming way before they made the announcement in January either to find a buyer or go to an online model. But what the hell, bettter things await me just yonder down the road, right? Now I have to freelance full time, which is what I've been doing all along since I started with the PI in 2002. My fear, is that those 15 outstanding photo editors and photographers, my colleagues are now out of work. Fortunately for me, my business is doing well, but for them, there's going to be a long road ahead.

Seattle P-I to publish last edition Tuesday
By DAN RICHMAN AND ANDREA JAMES
P-I REPORTERS

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer will roll off the presses for the last time Tuesday, ending a 146-year run.


· Seattlepi.com to continue as local news, opinion site
· Letter to readers
· More about the new seattlepi.com
The Hearst Corp. announced Monday that it would stop publishing the newspaper, Seattle's oldest business, and cease delivery to more than 117,600 weekday readers.

The company, however, said it will maintain seattlepi.com, making it the nation's largest daily newspaper to shift to an entirely digital news product.

"Tonight we'll be putting the paper to bed for the last time," Editor and Publisher Roger Oglesby told a silent newsroom Monday morning. "But the bloodline will live on."

In a news release, Hearst CEO Frank Bennack Jr. said, "Our goal now is to turn seattlepi.com into the leading news and information portal in the region."

Steven Swartz, president of Hearst Newspapers, said in the release the Web site "isn't a newspaper online -- it's an effort to craft a new type of digital business with a robust, community news and information Web site at its core."

He continued: "The Web is first and foremost a community platform, so we'll be featuring new columns from prominent Seattle residents; more than 150 reader blogs, community databases and photo galleries. We'll also be linking to the great work of other Web sites and blogs in the community."

On Jan. 9, New York-based Hearst put the Seattle P-I up for sale and said that the paper would stop printing if a buyer were not found within 60 days.

Despite community concern, no buyer emerged. The P-I lost $14 million last year.

The P-I closure leaves Seattle with one daily newspaper -- rival and business partner The Seattle Times. Monday's announcement ends the joint operating agreement that has joined the two papers for more than two decades.

Seattle Times publisher Frank Blethen responded to news of the closure in an e-mailed letter, writing: "Though The Seattle Times and the Seattle P-I have been fiercely competitive, we find no joy in the loss of any journalistic voice. Today's announcement is an acknowledgement that in the current economy it is a struggle for even a single newspaper to be profitable and impossible for multiple papers in a single market."

Blethen said that being freed from the joint operating agreement, or JOA, that has bound the two papers since 1983 "gives The Seattle Times the best opportunity to be viable long term."

He expressed hope that The Seattle Times "will be able to serve the community with journalism of distinction for many generations to come whether in print, online, or in new platforms not yet imagined."

Demand for news has not fallen but the revenue model has changed faster than American newspapers can keep up. Thus, falling advertising revenue and the migration of readers to online has rocked newspapers large and small. The Rocky Mountain News in Denver closed in February. The Seattle P-I is the second newspaper to shut down in 2009.

Other major newspaper companies are reducing staff, eliminating bureaus and freezing pay in an attempt to get expenses in line with falling revenue.


PUBLISHER'S REMARKS

Seattle P-I Editor and Publisher Roger Oglesby addressed staff in the newsroom Monday morning. Here are his remarks:

Tonight we'll be putting the paper to bed for the last time. But the bloodline will live on.

Hearst is announcing today that the P-I will become an online-only news operation. The last print edition will appear tomorrow.

We have copies of the press release for you, as well as a letter from (The Hearst Corp. CEO) Frank Bennack and (Hearst Newspapers President) Steve Swartz. But first I have just a couple of things to say.

This is a hard day for all of us. We were fortunate to be part of a great newspaper with a great tradition, and we've been blessed to be part of a wonderful group of talented people. We all hate to see that end.

But we knew it was coming. Hearst fought for years to keep this place going, but time and these rotten economic conditions finally caught up with us.

But there's another part to the story, and I'm not going to let you forget it. It's the part that has to do with what will live on and who's responsible for it. Tomorrow, SeattlePI.com will be reborn, outside the JOA. It will continue, and it will thrive, and it will be a strong and vital voice of this city for years to come.

Some of you will part of that ongoing effort, and you have an exciting road ahead of you. But we should all remember that everybody at this paper helped to build SeattlePI.com and the foundation on which its future will rest. Every one of you, everyone at this paper, should take pride in that. I will, and you should, too.

As for the paper, tonight will be the final run. So let's do it right. This is a great newspaper and has been for a long time. Let's show the world it still is. Let's show them what we can do, one more time.

[SusanH1970]

Jim, that's a bummer, sorry to hear about it.

Look on the bright side - you'll have more time to devote to your freelance work, which is stellar.

[wdogg40]

Sorry to hear about the job. Have you ever explored the option of teaching photography and/or the business of photography. Not that I would want you to take your valuable information away from the forum, it just seems that you are a well of knowledge and experience and would benefit many young aspiring photography students.

[Jim Bryant]

I'd love to find a way to go on the road to teach in seminars. Get paid for talking and teaching photography and business, now that really sounds like a plan for me. Besides, I have a laptop and an aircard and can post from anywhere there's a signal.

Originally Posted by wdogg40

Sorry to hear about the job. Have you ever implored the option of teaching photography and/or the business of photography. Not that I would want you to take your valuable information away from the forum, it just seems that you are a well of knowledge and experience and would benefit many young aspiring photography students.

[SusanH1970]

Originally Posted by Jim Bryant

I'd love to find a way to go on the road to teach in seminars. Get paid for talking and teaching photography and business .Now that really sounds like a plan for me

Come teach me! You can stay in my guest room in exchange and I'll give you a nice tour of New England.

[Jim Bryant]

How about for the Autumn colors

Originally Posted by SusanH1970

Come teach me! You can stay in my guest room in exchange and I'll give you a nice tour of New England.

[smc1377]

The brightside is, you'll have more time to share your knowledge with all of us here at DPS!

[SusanH1970]

Originally Posted by Jim Bryant

How about for the Autumn colors

LOL there ya go!

[big jc]

Originally Posted by SusanH1970

Come teach me! You can stay in my guest room in exchange and I'll give you a nice tour of New England.

Sorry to hear about your job loss. But I also have a spare room, how would you like to shoot America's oldest fishing town (Gloucester, Ma) in spring? or the old north bridge in Concord?

[Jim Bryant]

Man, the weather's been so crappy here in Washington State, I'm ready for a long road trip

Originally Posted by big jc

Sorry to hear about your job loss. But I also have a spare room, how would you like to shoot America's oldest fishing town (Gloucester, Ma) in spring? or the old north bridge in Concord?