March 17th, 2009
Nightmare come true
A nightmare scenario I first heard discussed in college came true today when the 146-year-old Seattle P-I printed its last edition. Somewhere in my files I have a paper I wrote for a college journalism class: an opinion piece that concluded people will always want a printed newspaper they can hold in their hands, as opposed to reading on a computer monitor. Tomorrow, however, the Seattle P-I many of us grew up with will be available only online. Ironically, Skagit Publishing Monday printed its first newspaper on a new press at a new Mount Vernon production plant. As a former print journalist, I hope American publishers will be able to put together business plans that keep newspapers in production at all levels, from major metropolitan papers to hometown editions. Today’s P-I headline reads: “P-I presses fall silent.” The subhead reads: “From print to pixels – seattlepi.com assumes venerable legacy.” Tomorrow I’m forced to find a computer to see what a reduced news team puts together in a “digitized” format.