A farewell to an institution…

Today is a red-letter day in Seattle. It is the first day in 146 years that you cannot get a hard copy of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

 

I, as a blogger, feel a part of the paradigm shift that has caused the downfall of a Seattle institution.

 

The 146-year bastion of journalism succumbed to the pressures of the twittering-blogging-facebooking-I-need-info-now-regardless-of-the-source that is the modern American public.

 

I was raised on the P-I and I love(d) the paper. My dad maintained a subscription for as long as I can remember. One of my favorite past-times was settling-in with the Sunday paper, a cup of coffee in-hand and catching-up on the goings-on around town and in the world.

 

My love of the P-I sparked more than a few arguments as I attended Western Washington University and obtained a degree in Journalism. The Joe Friday, ‘Just the facts ma’am’ style of writing that you are reading right now was heavily influenced by the reporting in the P-I.

 

I’ve always described the difference between the P-I and the Seattle Times as this:

-If you want to hear the: who, what where, when and why (aka the 5 W’s) read the P-I.

-If you want to read some lame-ass human interest story about the event 3 days after the fact, read the Times.

 

I steadfastly believe that description of Seattle’s two dailies. In fact, I am utterly disgusted that the ‘Times’ is the journalistic representative of Seattle to the world.

 

In my mind, it’s like MTV News beating-out CNN.

 

Overall, I am happy that Seattle still has at least one daily newspaper.

 

I do think that a vigorous, non-blog-based, professional local journalistic presence is vital to a community.

 

I fear what will come from a world unregulated by editors or journalistic safeguards.

 

Print journalism (for the most part) kept everyone (including the reporters) honest.

 

Speed, as with cars, is impressive, but rarely safe.

 

The old adage of ‘Haste makes waste’ rings horribly true here.

 

Journalism, not just print, is being replaced by quick fixes and entertainment.

 

It’s too late for the P-I, but I hope we all learn from its demise. There is a value to waiting until 6 AM for your news.

 

It’s important to note that it is not a reporter’s job to filter the news, it is the job of journalists to make sure what you are reading is as correct as it can be.

 

The P-I did that well for over 140 years, and I truly and honestly appreciate it.