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Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
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The Seattle Post-Intelligencer (popularly known as the Seattle P-I, the Post-Intelligencer, or simply the P-I) is an online newspaper and former print newspaper based in Seattle, Washington, United States.

Key Information

The newspaper was founded in 1863 as the weekly Seattle Gazette, and was later published daily in broadsheet format. It was long one of the city's two daily newspapers, along with The Seattle Times, until it became an online-only publication on March 18, 2009.

History

[edit]
The logo of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer before its transition to online-only publication
The front page
of the last printed edition
of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer,
published on March 17, 2009.

J.R. Watson founded the Seattle Gazette, Seattle's first newspaper, on December 10, 1863.[1][2] The paper failed after a few years and was renamed the Weekly Intelligencer in 1867 by new owner Sam Maxwell.[3]

In 1878, after publishing the Intelligencer as a morning daily, printer Thaddeus Hanford bought the Daily Intelligencer for $8,000. Hanford also acquired Beriah Brown's daily Puget Sound Dispatch and the weekly Pacific Tribune and folded both papers into the Intelligencer. In 1881, the Intelligencer merged with the Seattle Post. The names were combined to form the present-day name.[2]

In 1886, Indiana businessman Leigh S. J. Hunt came to Seattle and purchased the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, which he owned and published until he was forced to sell in the Panic of 1893.[4] At this point the newspaper was acquired by attorney and real estate developer James D. Hoge under whom it was representative of an establishment viewpoint. It was the state's predominant newspaper. Circulation was greatly increased by coverage of the Klondike Gold Rush in 1897. Hoge, who was involved in other business, sought to find a buyer and sold in 1899. The newspaper was acquired with assistance from James J. Hill by John L. Wilson who had first started the Seattle Klondike Information Bureau. The newspaper was acquired by Hearst in 1921.

Circulation stood at 31,000 in 1911.[1] 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.[5]

William Randolph Hearst took over the paper in 1921, and the Hearst Corporation owns the P-I to this day.[2]

In 1936, 35 P-I writers and members of The Newspaper Guild went on three-month strike against "arbitrary dismissals and assignment changes and other 'efficiency' moves by the newspaper." The International Brotherhood of Teamsters joined the strike in solidarity.[6] Roger Simpson and William Ames co-wrote their book Unionism or Hearst: the Seattle Post-Intelligencer Strike of 1936 on the topic.[7]

Anna Roosevelt Halsted, the daughter of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, began working as the editor of the women's page at the P-I after her husband Clarence John Boettiger took over as publisher in 1936. Boettiger left Seattle to enter the United States 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 left 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.[8]

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.[9]

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.[10][11] 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 an Internet-only publication with a drastically reduced staff, or closed outright.[10][11] 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-I's staff and the owners of rival newspaper The Seattle Times. Analysts did not expect a buyer to be found, in view of declining circulation in the U.S. newspaper industry and other newspapers on the market going unsold.[10] 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.[12]

On March 16, 2009, the newspaper posted a headline on its front page, followed shortly after by a short news story, that explained that the following day's edition would be its final one in print.[13] The newspaper's publisher, Roger Oglesby, was quoted saying that the P-I would continue as an online-only operation. Print subscribers had their subscriptions automatically transferred to The Seattle Times on March 18.

As of 2024, the P-I continues as an online-only newspaper. In September 2010, the site had an estimated 2.8 million unique visitors and 208,000 visitors per day.[14]

Joint operating agreement

[edit]

From 1983 to 2009, the P-I and The Seattle Times had a joint operating agreement (JOA) whereby advertising, production, marketing, and circulation were run for both papers by The Seattle Times company. They maintained separate news and editorial departments. The papers published a combined Sunday edition, although the Times handled the majority of the editorial content while the P-I only provided a small editorial/opinions section.[citation needed] The JOA was proposed by Hearst in 1981 due to $14 million in cumulative financial losses incurred by the P-I.[15]

In 2003 the Times tried to cancel the JOA, citing a clause in it that three consecutive years of losses were cause for cancelling the agreement.[16] 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. The two papers settled the issue on April 16, 2007.

The JOA ended in 2009 with the cessation of the P-I print edition.[13]

Awards

[edit]

The P-I was notable for its two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist, David Horsey.[17]

Notable reports

[edit]

Report on Judge Gary Little

[edit]

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, and led to reforms in the way judges are disciplined in Washington state.

Conduct Unbecoming series

[edit]

In 2006 the P-I became 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.[18] The P-I declined to participate in the proceedings, and opted instead to give a detailed reply on its website.[19]

The P-I Globe

[edit]
The P-I Globe is an official Seattle Landmark.

The P-I is known for the 13.5-ton, 30-foot (9.1 m) neon globe atop its headquarters on the Elliott Bay waterfront, which features the words "It's in the P-I" rotating around the globe and an 18-foot (5.5 m) eagle perched atop with wings stretched upwards.[20] The globe originated from a 1947 readers' contest to determine a new symbol for the paper. Out of 350 entrants, the winner was Jack (known as Jakk) C. Corsaw, a University of Washington art student.[21] The globe was manufactured in 1948[21] and was placed atop the paper's then-new headquarters building at 6th Avenue and Wall Street (now City University of Seattle). When the newspaper moved its headquarters again in 1986 to its current location on the waterfront, the globe was relocated to the new building.[20] A stylized rendering of the globe appeared on the masthead of the newspaper in its latter years and continues to feature on its website.[22]

In April 2012, it was designated a Seattle landmark by the city's Landmarks Preservation Board.[21][23] Mayor Ed Murray signed a city ordinance that had been passed by the Seattle City Council on December 17, 2015, that designated the globe as an official city landmark.[24][25][26][27]

In March 2012, the globe was donated to the Museum of History and Industry, which planned to refurbish and relocate it,[28] but as of 2018, this had not occurred.

Notable employees

[edit]

Notable employees of the P-I have included two-time Pulitzer Prize winning editorial cartoonist and commentator David Horsey, two-time Pulitzer Prize winning investigative reporter Eric Nalder, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and author Timothy Egan, journalist and author Darrell Bob Houston ("King of the Midnight Blue", a novel loosely based on the noted highjacking by D.B. Cooper), the novelists E. B. White, Frank Herbert, Tom Robbins, Adam Schefter, and Emmett Watson, as well as Lewis Kamb, a winner of the Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting while working at The Seattle Times,[29] and Andrew Schneider, who won two Pulitzer Prizes for specialized reporting and public service while working at The Pittsburgh Press.[30]

See also

[edit]
  • Hutch Award (baseball award bestowed at P-I's annual "Sports Star of the Year" banquet)

References

[edit]
[edit]
Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia

Seattle Post-Intelligencer

View on Grokipedia
from Grokipedia

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer (P-I), founded in 1863 as the Seattle Gazette, was Seattle's oldest newspaper and a major daily publication until its print edition ended on March 17, 2009, after which it transitioned to an online-only format under Hearst Corporation ownership. Originally a weekly paper renamed the Weekly Intelligencer in 1867 by owner Samuel L. Maxwell, it evolved into a daily serving the region's news needs amid competition from The Seattle Times, with which it shared a joint operating agreement for production and distribution. Acquired by Hearst in 1921, the P-I endured economic downturns, labor strikes, and technological shifts while contributing to local journalism through reporting on Seattle's growth from a frontier settlement to a major urban center. As of 2025, its digital successor at seattlepi.com continues to provide news coverage, though scaled back from its peak circulation era.

Origins and Early Development

Founding as Seattle Gazette

The Seattle Gazette was established on December 10, 1863, as the first newspaper in , a frontier settlement with a population of approximately 300 residents centered around sawmills and nascent trade. Published weekly by J.R. Watson, a printer who had relocated from , the inaugural issue featured local announcements, Civil War updates, and international news sourced from eastern papers, reflecting the limited printing technology and reliance on overland mail for content. The paper operated from a modest office in , printing on a small hand-press capable of producing around 200 copies per run, which aligned with the community's scale and served primarily to foster civic discourse amid territorial growth in . Watson's venture marked as the fourth city in the future state to have a , following Olympia, Walla Walla, and Steilacoom, and it emphasized practical local reporting on shipping arrivals, land claims, and territorial politics to support the town's aspirations against rival ports. Publication continued irregularly through mid-1864, with 24 known issues digitized from December 10, 1863, to June 4, 1864, before a hiatus prompted by financial strains and Watson's departure; the paper briefly reemerged on August 6, 1864, under the variant name Seattle Weekly Gazette with new proprietors, signaling early instability in the volatile economy. This foundational phase laid the groundwork for the publication's evolution, though it remained a modest weekly without significant competition until later entrants like the Commercial Advertiser in 1865.

Transition to Daily and Name Change

In 1867, under new owner Samuel L. Maxwell, the Seattle Gazette—founded as a weekly paper on December 10, 1863—was renamed the Weekly Intelligencer. This publication shifted to daily operations in 1876, adopting the name Daily Intelligencer to reflect its expanded frequency amid growing demand in 's burgeoning economy. The change marked Seattle's first consistent daily , enabling more timely coverage of territorial news, shipping arrivals, and local commerce in the absence of telegraph access until later years. Competition intensified with the launch of the rival Seattle Post as a daily in early 1881, prompting a swift merger later that year to consolidate resources and readership. The combined entity debuted as the Seattle Post-Intelligencer on October 3, 1881, retaining the Intelligencer's established subscriber base while incorporating the Post's fresh branding. This name change and merger, driven by economic pressures in a market with limited advertising revenue, positioned the paper as 's dominant daily outlet through the late .

Mid-Century Growth and Operations

Expansion and Key Milestones

The acquisition of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer by in 1921 provided the financial backing necessary for operational expansion, including modernization efforts and staff enhancements that bolstered its competitive position in Seattle's media landscape. This infusion of resources contributed to steady circulation growth, reaching 102,000 daily copies by 1936 amid the newspaper's recovery from earlier labor disputes and economic pressures. Post-World War II economic expansion in Seattle paralleled the Post-Intelligencer's physical and infrastructural growth, with construction of a new headquarters at 6th Avenue and commencing in 1947 to accommodate increased production needs. Completed in 1948, the facility featured a distinctive rotating globe installed atop the roof on November 9, symbolizing the paper's commitment to comprehensive news coverage and serving as a landmark visible from . This upgrade supported heightened output during the region's population and industrial boom, enabling the newspaper to maintain its status as a leading morning daily alongside the Seattle Times. By the mid-20th century, these developments had solidified the Post-Intelligencer's expanded footprint, with facilities and circulation reflecting 's transformation into a major urban center, though ongoing rivalry with the Times influenced further operational adaptations.

Iconic Symbols and Facilities

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer occupied a custom-built headquarters at the corner of and in Seattle's Belltown neighborhood, completed in 1948 under the direction of the Hearst Corporation. This six-story facility housed the newspaper's printing presses in its lower levels and served as the central hub for editorial and operational activities through the mid-1980s. The structure's modernist design reflected the post-World War II era's emphasis on functional for industrial media operations. Atop this headquarters stood the P-I globe, an iconic 48-foot neon sign installed on November 9, 1948, symbolizing the newspaper's global reach and commitment to comprehensive coverage. Featuring a rotating spherical earth with illuminated continents, oceans, and an encircling eagle, the sign displayed the slogan "It's in the P-I" alongside the full newspaper name in neon lettering. Weighing approximately 18.5 tons, it functioned as a nighttime beacon visible across the city, embodying mid-century optimism in print media's prominence. In January 1986, as the P-I shifted to leased office space at 101 Elliott Avenue West amid cost-saving measures, the globe was relocated to the roof of a five-story waterfront building at the same address, preserving its visibility over . The sign's enduring cultural significance led to its designation as an official city landmark on December 17, 2015, despite the newspaper's transition to digital-only operations in 2009. No other facilities achieved comparable symbolic status, though earlier P-I buildings in , such as the 1928 structure at Sixth and Pine, supported growth but lacked the globe's distinctive flair.

Joint Operating Agreement

Formation and Initial Terms

The Joint Operating Agreement (JOA) between Company and Hearst Corporation, owner of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer (P-I), was pursued amid declining revenues for both newspapers in the late 1970s and early 1980s, exacerbated by competition from television and suburban publications. On January 13, 1981, the two companies announced an agreement in principle to form a JOA under the federal Newspaper Preservation Act of 1970, which permitted antitrust exemptions for joint commercial operations to preserve competing editorial voices in markets with a "failing" newspaper. The P-I, facing financial losses, qualified as the failing entity, prompting the collaboration to pool resources for survival while maintaining separate newsrooms. The JOA took effect on May 23, 1983, marking Seattle's entry as the 22nd such arrangement nationwide. Initial terms assigned The Seattle Times responsibility for combined business functions, including advertising sales, production, circulation, marketing, and printing, leveraging its larger infrastructure to reduce costs for both papers. Revenues from these shared operations were pooled, with profits and losses distributed according to a formula reflecting each paper's relative circulation strength and contributions, though exact initial ratios—often favoring the stronger Times—were not publicly detailed beyond ensuring viability for the P-I. Editorial and news operations remained independent and competitive, a core requirement of the Act to foster journalistic diversity. This structure aimed to stabilize the P-I, which had been unprofitable, and bolster the Times amid industry-wide pressures, though it granted the Times operational dominance from the outset. The agreement included provisions for periodic review but no immediate termination clauses beyond standard failing-newspaper safeguards, setting the stage for decades of cooperation punctuated by later amendments. In 2003, the Seattle Times Company invoked the Joint Operating Agreement's (JOA) escape clause by issuing a three-year loss notice for the period 2000–2002, claiming operational losses that could justify terminating the JOA or closing one newspaper after an 18-month negotiation period. Hearst Corporation, owner of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer (P-I), preemptively filed suit on April 28, 2003, in King County Superior Court, alleging that the Times had breached its fiduciary duties under the JOA by engaging in self-serving management practices designed to generate artificial losses and undermine the P-I's viability. The Times countered on April 29, 2003, by formally notifying Hearst of its intent to end the JOA, asserting that genuine economic pressures, including declining advertising revenue, warranted the action rather than any deliberate sabotage. The litigation escalated through multiple stages, with Hearst seeking damages and a declaration that events, such as the dot-com bust's impact on , could not form the basis for valid loss notices. In September 2003, a judge ruled against ' immediate termination attempt, temporarily preserving the JOA, though the decision highlighted mutual accusations of financial mismanagement—Hearst claimed the Times prioritized its own circulation growth over joint profits, while the Times argued Hearst's editorial decisions alienated advertisers. The , in Hearst Communications, Inc. v. Seattle Times Co. (2005), interpreted the JOA's loss operations clause, affirming that the Times could rely on audited losses for invocation but remanding for further fact-finding on whether the Times' actions constituted breaches of loyalty. A subsequent 2005 Times notice for losses from 2002–2004 prolonged the dispute, prompting Hearst to explore claims that the Times systematically disadvantaged the P-I in allocation and cost-sharing. The four-year conflict concluded with a settlement announced on April 15, 2007, under which the Times agreed to forgo JOA termination until at least 2016, implemented revised profit-sharing audited by a neutral third party, and dropped counterclaims, while Hearst withdrew its breach allegations and accepted adjusted historical profit distributions. The agreement, finalized in August 2007, averted immediate closure risks for the P-I but underscored underlying tensions over the JOA's viability amid industry-wide revenue declines, with no further major litigation reported before the P-I's print edition ceased in 2009.

Journalistic Achievements

Notable Investigative Reports

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer produced several investigative series that uncovered official misconduct, systemic flaws, and risks, frequently prompting legislative reforms, indictments, and procedural overhauls. These efforts, spanning decades, emphasized in , , and corporate practices, with reporters leveraging , witness interviews, and to substantiate claims. In 1988, reporter Duff Wilson detailed allegations against King County Judge Gary Little, including inappropriate sexual contacts with male juvenile defendants during off-hours meetings without attorneys present; the report, published on August 18, led to Little's in the courthouse hallway hours before press time and spurred a 1989 Washington state authorizing the Commission on Judicial Conduct to recommend judge removal. Andrew Schneider and Mike Barber's 1997–1998 series "The Power to Harm" scrutinized the Wenatchee sex abuse prosecutions, exposing flawed investigations, coerced testimonies, and overzealous tactics by authorities that ensnared innocents; it contributed to vacating convictions for 17 defendants, drew involvement from the , and highlighted risks of in child welfare cases. Schneider's 1999 reporting on contamination from W.R. Grace & Co.'s , mine revealed widespread health hazards affecting thousands, including lung diseases; the series prompted an Environmental Protection Agency designation, federal criminal indictments against company executives in 2005, and enhanced regulations. In 2003, Lewis Kamb, Lise Olsen, and Mike Barber examined police handling of missing-persons cases across Washington, identifying chronic understaffing, delayed responses, and overlooked leads in over 1,000 annual reports; their findings, which linked to unsolved homicides, drove departmental policy shifts, including dedicated units and better data tracking, and aided identification of previously unknown remains. Eric Nalder's 2008 series on private military contractor Aegis Special Security in documented , inadequate oversight, and shoot-to-kill incentives in a $293 million contract, based on whistleblower accounts and contract analyses; aired on PBS's Journal, it fueled congressional scrutiny of wartime and contributed to Nalder's later enterprise reporting role at Hearst Newspapers.

Awards and Recognitions

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer earned two Pulitzer Prizes for Editorial Cartooning, both awarded to staff cartoonist David Horsey for his work critiquing political and social issues, including U.S. and domestic failures, in 1999 and 2003. In 2002, reporters Robert McClure and Andrew Schneider received the John B. Oakes Award from Columbia University's Graduate School of for their investigative series on from dry cleaners in the , highlighting regulatory shortcomings and health risks. Staff members Paul Shukovsky, Tracy Johnson, and Daniel Lathrop won the 2008 Merriman Smith Memorial Award for Broadcast Excellence in Presidential Coverage from the for their reporting on national political events during the Bush administration. The newspaper frequently garnered regional honors from the ' Western Washington chapter, including 58 awards in 2007 (nine first-place), 34 in 2003 (10 first-place for projects like Puget Sound pollution investigations), and 25 in 2004 (five first-place).

Editorial Stance and Criticisms

Political Orientation and Bias

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer exhibited a left-center editorial bias during its print operations, as evidenced by consistent endorsements of Democratic presidential candidates, including in 2008. Media bias evaluators such as classified it as left-center based on these positions, while noting high factual reporting standards through sourcing from credible outlets like the . In Seattle's politically liberal environment, the P-I often positioned itself as the more progressive alternative to , which received center or mild left-center ratings from similar assessors. Independent ratings varied: assessed SeattlePI.com (the post-2009 digital iteration) as neutral in bias and highly reliable, reflecting a reliance on aggregated wire services and reduced original content after print cessation. Ground News aggregated it as leaning left, aligning with patterns in urban dailies where slants favor progressive policies on issues like and environmental regulation, as seen in its coverage of local union disputes dating to the 1936 strike. Critics, including those tracking media slant, attributed such orientations to broader institutional trends in , where left-leaning perspectives predominate in newsrooms, potentially influencing story selection and framing despite factual accuracy. Early 20th-century characterizations occasionally depicted the P-I as aligned with conservative business interests, contrasting with a more sensationalist Times, but this inverted over decades amid ownership changes under Hearst Corporation, which amplified liberal-leaning editorials by the mid-1900s. No major retractions or fabrications marred its record, but endorsements in state primaries, such as those in favoring Democrats in key races, underscored a pattern of partisan alignment rather than ideological neutrality. Post-transition to online-only in 2009, bias assessments focused on remnant content, with diminished influence limiting controversies but preserving a legacy of center-left advocacy in regional politics.

Reporting Controversies and Shortcomings

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer faced criticisms for left-leaning positions that occasionally influenced its reporting, as assessed by media evaluators rating it left-center biased while maintaining high factual accuracy overall. Independent ratings varied, with some classifying its bias as neutral based on story selection and . These evaluations highlighted a pattern of favoring progressive viewpoints in content, though straight was generally fact-based. In 2006, the Washington News Council, a nonpartisan media watchdog, ruled against the P-I in a complaint filed by King County Sheriff Sue Rahr over the investigative series "," which examined alleged misconduct, weak discipline, and oversight failures in the Sheriff's Office. The panel found portions of the series inaccurate, misleading, and inflammatory, particularly assertions of retaliation against citizens and transit staff, and criticized the newspaper for inadequate and untimely corrections. Despite prompting over $1.3 million in reform funding and a civilian review panel, the P-I declined to participate in the council's hearing citing conflicts of , defending the work as essential public service journalism. The newspaper encountered defamation lawsuits alleging inaccurate portrayals, several of which were dismissed but underscored reporting disputes. In Camer v. Seattle Post-Intelligencer, plaintiffs claimed defamatory statements in articles about "" lawsuits clogging , but the dismissed the case for failing to establish a claim. A 2005 libel suit by a state forensic scientist against the P-I and a reporter was rejected by a , affirming the reporting's protections. Separately, in 2007, Warren Yeakey filed suit over articles portraying him negatively, prompting a 2009 appeals court review. Critics, including pro-Israel watchdog CAMERA, pointed to factual errors in Middle East coverage, such as captions sourced from the Associated Press that incorrectly located the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv rather than Jerusalem following its 2018 relocation, requiring a correction. Opinion pieces praising activist narratives were challenged for overlooking affiliations with groups accused of anti-Israel agitation, though the P-I published rebuttals from critics. Historically, the P-I drew accusations of in its coverage of the 1947 Canwell Committee hearings, which investigated alleged Communist influences at the , with detractors labeling the reporting overheated and ideologically driven against anti-communist efforts. Such instances reflected broader critiques of urban liberal bias in mid-20th-century print media, where empirical scrutiny of sources sometimes yielded to narrative emphasis.

Decline and Digital Transition

Economic Pressures and Print Closure

The faced mounting financial difficulties in the , exacerbated by a broader decline in the newspaper industry. Owned by the Hearst Corporation since 1921, the paper reported operating losses every year since 2000, with losses escalating to $14 million in 2008 alone. These deficits persisted despite participation in a joint operating agreement (JOA) with the competing Seattle Times, which shared printing and distribution costs but failed to stem revenue shortfalls. Key drivers included plummeting , particularly in classifieds and retail ads, as advertisers shifted to online platforms offering lower costs and broader reach. Circulation also dwindled, dropping from approximately 146,000 daily copies in 2004 to around 120,000 by 2009, reflecting reader migration to digital news sources amid rising newsstand prices and subscription fatigue. Combined weekday circulation for Seattle's two major dailies fell by about 5% in 2005, mirroring national trends where competition eroded print viability. In January 2009, Hearst announced it would seek a buyer for the P-I or cease operations, citing unsustainable losses projected to worsen that year. No viable purchasers emerged after two months of negotiations, prompting Hearst president Steven Swartz to declare the print model unfeasible. On March 17, 2009, the Post-Intelligencer published its final print edition after 146 years, transitioning to an online-only format and reducing its newsroom staff from about 165 to 20. This closure marked the first major U.S. daily to abandon print entirely, underscoring causal pressures from digital disruption over any isolated mismanagement.

Post-2009 Online Operations

Following the discontinuation of its print edition on March 17, 2009, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer operated exclusively as the digital news site seattlepi.com under Hearst Corporation ownership. The transition marked the largest U.S. daily to adopt an -only model, with an initial staff reduced to approximately 20 employees from over 140 in print operations. This smaller team produced a blend of original local reporting, opinion pieces, and aggregated content from wire services, adopting a format akin to early digital aggregators rather than a traditional . Early digital performance showed resilience, with the site averaging 4 million unique monthly visitors in the transition period and traffic rising in late April 2009 despite the drastic staff cuts. Hearst integrated seattlepi.com into its broader Media portfolio, emphasizing digital advertising to reach over 80% of the local online adult audience. Subsequent years brought progressive staff reductions amid economic pressures and shifts. By 2018, the newsroom faced layoffs and resignations, attributed to stagnant wages and from larger outlets, further eroding original reporting capacity. Editorial personnel dropped to two full-time members by , a decline from the initial 20, prompting experiments with newsletters to retain engagement. As of 2025, seattlepi.com sustains operations with roughly 4 million monthly readers, including 1 million in the region, primarily through syndicated features like "Today in History" alongside limited local and national coverage. The site's output reflects Hearst's emphasis on automated and wire-sourced content over expansive in-house journalism, maintaining a digital presence without restoring print or significantly expanding staff.

Legacy and Influence

Impact on Seattle's Media Landscape

The closure of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer's print operations on March 17, 2009, eliminated daily newspaper competition in , establishing The Seattle Times as the city's only remaining print daily and creating a print media monopoly. This outcome stemmed from the joint operating agreement between the two papers, which had already centralized production and advertising since , but the P-I's shutdown intensified concerns over reduced incentives for rigorous local scrutiny and diverse viewpoints. The reduction from approximately 165 newsroom staff to a skeleton crew of 20 for the online-only format severely curtailed capacity, contributing to broader declines in local coverage of , , and civic institutions. Empirical analyses of closures, including Seattle's, link such losses to measurable civic harms, including a 10-20% drop in accountability metrics like spending and a rise in due to diminished cross-partisan . Over the ensuing decade, the P-I's diminished —eventually integrated under Hearst's broader operations in 2018—failed to offset the vacuum, fostering a media landscape increasingly reliant on and fragmented digital alternatives like public radio and niche sites. This shift has been associated with a contraction in progressive-leaning outlets, as the P-I historically served as a counterbalance to the more centrist Times, exacerbating trends toward news deserts in local investigative reporting.

Notable Personnel and Alumni

David Horsey served as the and for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer from 1979 until the print edition's closure in 2009, earning two Pulitzer Prizes for Editorial Cartooning in 1999 and 2003 for his incisive political commentary. His work, characterized by sharp critiques of power structures, garnered 13 regional awards during his tenure. Royal Brougham began his career at the Post-Intelligencer in 1910 as a copy boy, advancing to sports editor in and leading the sports department for over 40 years until his death in 1978. He authored the "The Morning After" column for more than 50 years, covered events including the 1936 Berlin Olympics, and contributed to community initiatives such as raising $150,000 for soldiers' recreation facilities. Investigative reporter Andrew Schneider joined the Post-Intelligencer after winning two Pulitzer Prizes at the Pittsburgh Press, where he exposed flaws in hazardous materials regulation and . At the P-I, he reported on the W.R. Grace contamination in , prompting an EPA designation and federal investigations. Author worked briefly as a substitute reporter at the Post-Intelligencer in 1923 following his dismissal from the Seattle Times, marking an early phase before his rise as a prominent essayist and writer. Horace R. Cayton, hired in the early 1900s, became Seattle's first African American journalist as a political reporter, expanding the paper's editorial diversity under owner Alden J. Blethen. Ken Bunting, appointed managing editor on July 29, 1994, was the first African American to lead a at a major daily newspaper, overseeing operations during a period of investigative focus.

References

  1. https://washingtondigitalnewspapers.org/?a=cl&cl=CL1&sp=SEATPINT
  2. https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna29722882
  3. https://www.historylink.org/file/8956
  4. https://www.hearst.com/-/seattle-post-intelligencer-and-seattle-times-amend-agreement
  5. https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/seattle-post-intelligencer-a-brief-history/
  6. https://www.hearst.com/newspapers/seattlepicom
  7. https://www.seattlepi.com/
  8. https://www.historylink.org/File/2009
  9. https://www.seattlepi.com/local/history-seattle-p-i/article/early-history-of-Seattle-first-paper-P-I-13442855.php
  10. https://washingtondigitalnewspapers.org/?a=cl&cl=CL1&sp=SEATGAZ
  11. https://www.historylink.org/File/8951
  12. https://www.seattlepi.com/local/history-seattle-p-i/slideshow/Old-P-I-front-pages-narrate-Seattle-history-188033.php
  13. https://www.newsbank.com/sites/default/files/ProductFlyers/SeattlePostIntelligencer-NB-flyer.pdf
  14. https://depts.washington.edu/civilr/1936_PI_strike.htm
  15. https://www.historylink.org/File/20586
  16. https://www.seattlepi.com/local/seattle-history/article/Then-and-now-The-old-P-I-building-4241599.php
  17. https://pauldorpat.com/2022/12/29/seattle-now-then-the-p-i-globe-1948/
  18. https://www.seattletimes.com/pacific-nw-magazine/seattles-most-notable-neon-signs-from-the-p-i-globe-to-elephant-car-wash/
  19. https://seanews.neocities.org/facts/piglobe
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  23. https://www.historylink.org/File/8181
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  27. https://www.seattlepi.com/business/article/What-the-JOA-means-and-why-it-matters-1113484.php
  28. https://www.seattletimes.com/business/second-pact-signed-by-hearst-times-kept-private/
  29. https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/times-issues-hearst-second-three-year-loss-claim/
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  31. https://law.justia.com/cases/washington/supreme-court/2005/75400-4-1.html
  32. https://www.hearst.com/-/the-seattle-post-intelligencer-files-suit-to-protect-seattle-joa
  33. https://www.seattlepi.com/business/article/Times-alleges-P-I-violating-JOA-1120409.php
  34. https://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/12/business/the-media-business-sparring-seattle-papers-can-t-even-agree-to-break-up.html
  35. https://caselaw.findlaw.com/wa-court-of-appeals/1039827.html
  36. https://www.seattlepi.com/business/article/Judge-rules-against-Seattle-Times-1125346.php
  37. https://public.fastcase.com/H1P9uiW3J20SFp%252BGCG%252BxLQ%252F78unyG7EMmQLpks7uoOJf%252Ffce2DAHyO0XF0y%252F8wri9yJ6oTVZ5gK4R7XzvDNZJA%253D%253D
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  39. https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna18137369
  40. https://www.seattlepi.com/business/article/Seattle-P-I-and-Times-settle-legal-dispute-1234384.php
  41. https://www.seattletimes.com/business/joa-legal-fight-officially-ends/
  42. https://www.seattlepi.com/local/article/Years-of-P-I-investigative-work-gave-voice-to-the-1302646.php
  43. https://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/12192008/profile3.html
  44. https://www.hearst.com/-/eric-nalder-named-senior-enterprise-reporter-for-hearst-newspapers
  45. https://www.pulitzer.org/prize-winners-by-year/1999
  46. https://www.pulitzer.org/winners/david-horsey
  47. https://journalism.columbia.edu/oakes
  48. https://whca.press/award/2008-award-winners/
  49. https://www.seattlepi.com/local/article/P-I-wins-58-regional-journalism-awards-1239414.php
  50. https://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/Seattle-P-I-wins-34-journalism-awards-1115002.php
  51. https://www.seattlepi.com/local/article/P-I-wins-25-regional-journalism-awards-1144929.php
  52. https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/seattle-post-intelligencer/
  53. https://www.seattlepi.com/local/opinion/article/P-I-endorsement-Elect-Obama-1287429.php
  54. https://www.theurbanist.org/2021/11/18/is-the-progressive-media-landscape-in-seattle-drying-up/
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  61. https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/6962527/camer-v-seattle-post-intelligencer/
  62. https://www.seattlepi.com/local/article/Judge-rejects-libel-suit-against-P-I-1187900.php
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