Seattle’s Newspaper Stops the Presses.
The Seattle PI will stop publishing its paper edition and go to an entirely online edition. Seattle is becoming a one newspaper town as of March 2009. These plans were well known by the Hearst Company since December 2008 – but the actual closure of the print will hit our driveway with a thud not heard since the paperboy last fell down riding his bike in the rain. The world is changing and the internet is taking over any industry that is driven by information. While many of us love the feel of the newspaper in our hand – the economics are just not there anymore in a world gone digital.
It’s worth mentioning that smaller community newspapers like the Redmond Reporter seem to be thriving and growing with their focus on smaller communities and more micro localized advertisers. With the free distribution model – circulation is higher as are advertising rates for highly targeted socio-economic neighborhoods. Sounds a lot like Google Adwords but dropped right on my driveway.