Seattle Newspaper Deathwatch Begins

Post-Intelligencer put up for sale, could stop printing if there's no buyer

By Marie Morris, Newser Staff

Posted Jan 9, 2009 4:10 PM CST

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Seattle Newspaper Deathwatch Begins — Newspaper vendor Chad Smith displays copies of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, left, and the Seattle Times, featuring the election of President-elect Barack Obama, Nov. 5, 2008. (AP Photo)

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer will be closed or converted to a digital publication if a buyer doesn't emerge within 60 days, the Seattle Times reports. "Our losses have reached an unacceptable level," the executive of owner Hearst who made the announcement told the stunned newsroom today. "People cried, people are still crying, editors are slamming their doors," said a staff member.

The 145-year-old newspaper has struggled for years and lost $14 million in 2008, KING-TV reported. The Hearst exec shot down rumors that the company was interested in buying the family-owned Times, which publishes under a joint operating agreement with the P-I. Under federal regulations, a party to a JOA can't be sold unless it can demonstrate that there's no interest in buying it.
(More newspaper stories.)

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