The Loss of Another Two Newspaper Town

A couple of weeks ago, I blogged about the loss of Denver, Colo. (my hometown) as a two newspaper town after news broke that The Rocky Mountain News will likely close in coming months. In that post I detailed in great depth why First Amendment, watchdog reporting would likely suffer if the News is forced to close. 

Well, only a couple of weeks later, the newspaper world was shocked yet again by another closure announcement, this time in Seattle. Hearst, the parent company of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, told newsroom employees on Friday that it will likely shutter the newspaper in 60 days if a buyer is not found, ceasing operation of the state's oldest publication. 

Many people in the know had long thought that the P-I would buy out its competitor the Seattle Times, but very few believed the rainy city would remain a two newspaper town. The P-I is a terrific newspaper and one that I have often used in my First Amendment journalism searches. It's unfortunate that so many talented journalists will soon be thrown into a market that cannot absorb them. 

On a larger scale, it's mostly unfortunate that yet another town will be reduced to one newspaper and suffer the inevitable loss of quality journalism that accompanies that reality.