The P-I: Saying goodbye to a liberal voice
The roster of writers and editors is a bit painful to recall generally, because a number became friends. There was a time when, along with everyone else, my breakfast always included the droll gossip and wry opinions of the late Emmett Watson. Maybe in my time I even sent him a few items?
Other P-I writers of note are still around. Shelby Scates, the Tennessee-born, corruption-scenting hound dog of the Legislature — who retired to write about some of the remarkable figures with whom his career intersected, such as Warren Magnuson and (an example of Scates' national reach), Maurice Rosenblatt. The latter, Scates explained, not only pioneered what became the modern political action committee (the Committee for a More Effective Congress), but also was an under-appreciated force in the anti-McCarthy movement. Committed reporter/columnists sniff out such unusual characters and stories and make journalism into history.
I could mention the conscientious, thoroughly professional Charles Dunsire, whom I met when he was covering the City Council and then again when he was editorial page editor in the early 1990s. Chuck gave me a weekly column and defended it, even though it often surely grated on some of his colleagues. (His successor told me I would have to stop attacking scientific materialism, so I quit.)
Now, of course, you have Joel Connelly, columnist and former political reporter, who has been a scourge of Republicans for so long that some have developed a secret affection for him. Mere nodding notice from this redoubtable liberal is like a bouquet of roses from John Carlson (of KVI talk radio). For his part, Connelly can count on a number of Legislative initiatives that were inched along their way over the decades by his advocacy at the P-I — the North Cascades National Park comes to mind as one monument.
The sports reporter/philosopher Art Thiel; ace business and technology writer Bill Virgin; the brilliant, and, of course, unfair, David Horsey, nationally admired editorial cartoonist — the roster goes on. It is going to be hard for them and others to turn the page. I know what closing a paper is like; saying goodbye to people like that. It's awful. For what seems like decades I have sent op-ed drafts to Kimberly Mills, but truth is, it's been years since we actually have seen one another. I hope all good things happen to her, Mark Trahant, and to all the other serious and talented people at the P-I
A person's death often ends with an obit in the papers. In the case of a newspaper, it seems almost an afterthought that someone should have been celebrating the 146 years of the P-I before the end came. Love it, hate it, it's a real story.
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Comments:
Posted Tue, Mar 17, 8:05 a.m. inappropriate
Bruce, remind me to not invite you to deliver my eulogy.
Art
Posted Tue, Mar 17, 11:24 a.m. inappropriate
This so-called farewell is why Crosscut will remain a non-profit, I would never pay a dime, much less "donate" any money, to an organization that would sponsor tripe such as above.
Good by and good riddance to David Brewster and his ilk, see ya, don't wanna be ya.
Posted Tue, Mar 17, 1:10 p.m. inappropriate
Modern liberalism is a philosophy that caters to self-appointed victims and losers. How a base like that supported the PI as long as it did is the big mystery. And since conservatives have talk radio, they don't need a newspaper; so what the Puget Sound area really needs is a news outlet with a libertarian outlook. I was going to buy the PI and turn it into that. It would embrace all of Western Washington, not just the city of Seattle. I would speak to the virtues of personal discretion and personal responsibility. It would champion free association, free speech and free enterprise. It would cover all the stories that the self-congratulatory insiders of the Seattle press choose to ignore. It would have been glorious.
Unfortunately, my government bailout check didn't show up in time.
Posted Wed, Mar 18, 6:03 a.m. inappropriate
The Seattle PI did not chase conservatives stories, the Times cornered that market.
Will the Times try to capture PI readers by covering things leftys like, or will they go down with the newspaper industry ship?
There have been a variety of sources for the leftys to get stories from, likely too many. The PI is now attempting to trade on its name to do what Crosscut already does for the most part, the Stranger in another part, and the Weekly in another.
All of these resources should be one or two, and publish a weekly digest paper to supplement the online publishing, as the "strangler" and Weekly already do.
One better weekly paper with sections from all of those lefty souces would more closely reflect the online habits of readers that pull a little bit from all of them.
The Times has no such option.
Posted Wed, Mar 18, 1:20 p.m. inappropriate
Too liberal for too long. The PI was hemorrhaging readers at a far higher rate than the Times - why was that? Because the PI aggressively alienated conservatives and moderates. Ideological purity - intact. Ongoing enterprise with viable business - not so much.
Posted Wed, Mar 18, 11:27 p.m. inappropriate
The reason the p.i. failed is it's hard news articles became the op ed page so we couldn't take it serious sad as it may be.
Posted Thu, Mar 19, 1:05 a.m. inappropriate
The reason the PI failed is because newspapers have no business model anymore. Simple as that. But thanks Crosscut for allowing Mr. Chapman to engage in crocodile tears -- insulting and praising simultaneously. I would prefer he just stick to his regular Discovery Institute drivel promoting the anti-scientific fraud known as Intelligent Design. More entertaining.
Posted Thu, Mar 19, 2:30 a.m. inappropriate
This all is scaring me. Economy, then this...
I think a FSBO home is better option than banks and brokers now due to all these ups and down.
For sale by owner (FSBO) houses can be found in New Jersey by making use of the FSBO listings available online. You can also choose from a range of FSBO properties namely FSBO lands, farms, ranches etc. you can make use of them to buy some excellent properties. You can contact the owner directly for the completion of deal or get the help of FSBO realtors for the same. The entire FSBO network of buyers, sellers, brokers and attorneys details’ are available online and you can save a lot of time and energy by just going through the listings available online.
For further information try the link below
-------------------------------------------
David
http://fsbo.fastrealestate.net/
Posted Thu, Mar 19, 2:32 a.m. inappropriate
This all is scaring me. Economy, then this...
I think a FSBO home is better option than banks and brokers now due to all these ups and down.
For sale by owner (FSBO) houses can be found in New Jersey by making use of the FSBO listings available online. You can also choose from a range of FSBO properties namely FSBO lands, farms, ranches etc. you can make use of them to buy some excellent properties. You can contact the owner directly for the completion of deal or get the help of FSBO realtors for the same. The entire FSBO network of buyers, sellers, brokers and attorneys details’ are available online and you can save a lot of time and energy by just going through the listings available online.
For further information try the link below
-------------------------------------------
David
www.fsbo.fastrealestate.net
Posted Thu, Mar 19, 10:02 a.m. inappropriate
Hey David, any publisher will tell you that its bad form to run the same ad twice in the same column.
Posted Thu, Mar 19, 11:30 p.m. inappropriate
Bruce Chapman!!! Bruce Discovery Institute Creationism snake oil Intelligent Design salesman is published at Crosscut.com!!! Bruce Chapman who lies about his intentions and products every third breath. No wonder you guys can't make any money. Who would pay money to read a guy who hasn't the credibility to comment on anything outside of religious wackoism. Even Kansas figured out this guy was selling snake oil.
Two more years max, and you crosscut guys will have to find real jobs. Bruce Fucking Chapman!!! Jesus fucking Christ!!
Posted Thu, Mar 19, 11:34 p.m. inappropriate
I can't get over it! Bruce religious wacko Chapman, an example of conservatives at their very fucking worst, is published at crosscut. You guys are scraping through the bottom of the barrel. Be gone. Be gone!
Posted Thu, Mar 19, 11:42 p.m. inappropriate
You know who we need to hear from? Pastor Fuiten! He's a real conservative and an expert on homosexuality. Crosscut should give him a regular column to address homosexual issues and guide the rest of us in what God wants and demands from his created. Uhh-or is that Intelligent Designer?
Posted Thu, Mar 19, 11:43 p.m. inappropriate
"Crosscut finds and highlights the best local journalism and the best local commentary, whether it's the work of the biggest metropolitan daily newspaper or a part-time blogger. There is a multitude of worthy sources of information on the Internet, but few people have time to navigate them all."
Uh-huh, if you say so.
Wat ever happened to Chuck Taylor?
Posted Tue, Mar 24, 8:32 p.m. inappropriate
The demise of the P-I and the decline of the Times is symbolic of Seattle's steep cultural decline...Both papers were pale replicas of those in Seattle's East Coast rival Boston...Boston's two papers sharply differentiated themselves from each other...Both are a joy to read for their particular strengths....In contrast, Seattle's two broadsheets never seemed to stand for anything... The Times defended the status quo and the P-I offered up warm fuzzy bromides with a center-left tint... There was never any hard-hitting, two-fisted editorials...Nothing was said when homeless people partially burned one of the waterfront pier sheds that was slated to become a seaside theater...Nothing was said when the steam ferry Princess Marquerite ran its last run...Nor when the historic ferry San Mateo and now the schooner Wawona were lost...When the Blue Moon Tavern was slated for demolition...I can not remember a time when either paper stood for anything...concrete....For the average man...the papers might be a way to while away some time, but neither were compelling...Unlike some East Coast journalism...This is hard evidence of Seattle's decline from second tier to third or even fouth tier city. Maybe even below Cleveland which at least recognizes its plight...
Rep. Steven Lindsey
Ches-3
Keene, NH