The Seattle Post-Intelligencer has been a pillar of intellectual discourse and information through out the Pacific Northwest for decades. But in one of those “it had to happen sooner or later” moments, the major metropolitan newspaper is now shifting entirely to the Internet and will no longer publish a traditional paper version.
On Tuesday, the Post Intelligencer will publish its last printed version and officially become America’s first major market Internet-only newspaper. In fact, “newspaper” isn’t even the right word anymore — perhaps “news source” or “news publication” would be more appropriate.
But what ever you choose to call it, The Post Intelligencer is taking a huge leap forward into unknown territory. However, the Seattle paper is unlikely to be alone for very long — scores of newspapers around the country are gradually turning into Web news sources, and have been hemorrhaging money hand over fist in their traditional paper editions.
So, is this the end of the newspaper as we know it? In all likelihood, yes. While there is no doubt that many newspapers will survive, nearly all of them will be forced to switch over to web-only publications sooner or later. The Seattle Post Intelligencer is but the first in what could turn out to be a long line of switchovers to web-only publication.
Smaller and medium market newspapers have been especially hit hard by the current economic downturn, and pundits predict over the next few years many of these small-town (and midsized town) papers will be forced to make the shift to web only.
As for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, editors say the organization will continue to cover the Northwest Pacific area and national news vigorously via its web site, SeattlePI.com. The paper, which is part of the massive Hearst publishing family, lost an estimated $14 million last year alone. Obviously, job one for creating the new web-only Post Intelligencer is to break even, or at the very least — stop hemorrhaging money.
Employees of the company were informed Monday morning of the switch over, and it was announced that approximately 145 employees would be either laid off or offered early retirement severance packages as part of the switch-over plan.
Other major market “papers” around the country are considering similar action, as the cost of publishing paper editions of publications has skyrocketed, and delivery and other costs conspire to make the whole business unprofitable. Web publishing, on the other hand, is relatively inexpensive, as well as having the advantage of being a much “greener” option, something that is especially important in the eco-friendly northwest Pacific region.
