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Seattle Post-Intelligencer
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The Seattle Post-Intelligencer (popularly known as "the P-I") is one of two daily newspapers in Seattle, Washington, United States, the other being the The Seattle Times. On January 9, 2009, the Hearst Corporation put the P-I up for sale, saying that if the paper was not sold within 60 days, it would either be turned into a Internet-only publication with a drastically reduced staff, or closed outright.
P-I, Seattle's first newspaper, was founded on December 10, 1863 as the Seattle Gazette by J.R.
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Encyclopedia
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer (popularly known as "the P-I") is one of two daily newspapers in Seattle, Washington, United States, the other being the The Seattle Times. On January 9, 2009, the Hearst Corporation put the P-I up for sale, saying that if the paper was not sold within 60 days, it would either be turned into a Internet-only publication with a drastically reduced staff, or closed outright.
History
The P-I, Seattle's first newspaper, was founded on December 10, 1863 as the Seattle Gazette by J.R. Watson. The paper failed after a few years and was renamed the Weekly Intelligencer in 1867 by the new owner, Sam Maxwell. In 1881, The Intelligencer merged with the Seattle Post. The names were combined to form the present-day name.
Circulation stood at 31,000 in 1911. In 1912, editor Eric W. Allen left the paper to found the University of Oregon School of Journalism, which he ran until his death in 1944.
William Randolph Hearst took over the paper in 1921. The Hearst Corporation owns the P-I to this day.
Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt had a special relationship with the P-I. In 1936, their son-in-law John Boettiger took over as publisher. He brought his wife Anna, the Roosevelts' daughter, to also work at the paper. Anna became editor of the women's page. Boettiger left Seattle to enter the U.S. Army in April, 1943, while Anna stayed at the paper to help keep a liberal voice in the running of the paper. After Boettiger's absence, the paper increasingly turned conservative with Hearst's new acting publisher. Anna would leave Seattle in December, 1943, to live in the White House with her youngest child, Johnny. This effectively ended the Roosevelt-Boettiger ties with the P-I.
On December 15, 2006, no copies were printed as a result of a power outage caused by the December 2006 Pacific Northwest storms. It was the first time in 70 years that publication had been suspended.
On January 9, 2009, the Hearst Corporation announced that after losing money on it every year since 2000, Hearst was putting the P-I up for sale. The paper would be put on the market for 60 days, and if a buyer could not be found within that time, the paper would either be turned into a Internet-only publication with a drastically reduced staff, or closed outright. The news of the paper's impending sale was initially broken by local station KING-TV the night prior to the official announcement, and came as a surprise to the P-Is staff and the owners of rival newspaper The Seattle Times. Analysts said that, considering declining circulation in the U.S. newspaper industry and the presence of multiple other newspapers that were on the market but going unsold, it was unlikely that a buyer would be found within 60 days. Five days before the 60 day deadline, the P-I reported that the Hearst Corporation had given several P-I reporters provisional job offers for an online edition of the P-I.
Joint Operating Agreement - "JOA"
Since 1983, the P-I and The Seattle Times have been run under a "Joint Operating Agreement" (JOA) whereby advertising, production, marketing, and circulation are run for both papers by the Seattle Times Company. They maintain separate news and editorial departments. The papers publish a combined Sunday edition, although the Times handles the majority of the editorial content while the P-I only provides a small editorial/opinions section.
In 2003 Times tried to cancel the JOA, citing a clause in the JOA that three consecutive years of profit losses were cause for cancelling the agreement. Hearst disagreed and immediately filed suit to prevent the Times from cancelling the agreement. Hearst argued that a force majeure clause prevented the Times from claiming losses in 2000 and 2001 as reason to end the JOA, because they resulted from extraordinary events (in this case, a seven week newspaper strike). Each side publicly accused the other of attempting to put its rival out of business. The trial judge granted a summary judgment in Hearst's favor on the force majeure issue. But after two appeals, the Washington State Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Times on June 30, 2005, on the force majeure clause, reversing the trial court judge. Both papers settled the issue on April 16, 2007.
Awards
The P-I is notable for its two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist, David Horsey.
Report on Judge Gary Little
Investigative reporting on King County Superior Court Judge Gary Little's out-of-court contact with juvenile defendants revealed accusations that Little molested young boys while he was a teacher at Seattle's exclusive Lakeside School between 1968 and 1971. It also revealed inappropriate contact between Little and juveniles appearing before him after he became a judge. On August 19, 1988, after reporter Duff Wilson called the judge to advise him the newspaper was publishing the story, Little shot himself in the King County Courthouse. The ethical debates surrounding the publication of the story – and the network of connections that protected Little – are taught in journalism classes across the country, and led to reforms in the way judges are disciplined in Washington state.
Conduct Unbecoming series
In 2006 the P-I was the subject of a complaint to the Washington News Council for its reporting on the King County Sheriff's Office. The media watch-dog group ruled against the P-I, agreeing with Sheriff Sue Rahr's complaint that the newspaper had unfairly disparaged the Sheriff's Office. The P-I declined to participate in the proceedings, and opted instead to give a detailed reply on its website.
In popular culture
The P-I is known for the 18.5-ton neon globe atop its headquarters on the Elliott Bay waterfront. It features the words "It's in the P-I" rotating around the globe. A replica of the globe appears frequently on the P-I Web site.
Notable employees
Among the P-Is notable employees have been novelists E.B. White and Frank Herbert.
External links
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