Could David Black save the Seattle Post-Intelligencer?
With a decision looming in four months that might spell the beginning of the end for the smaller of Seattle's two daily newspapers, some speculate Black could ride to the Post-Intelligencer's rescue.
He kept an endangered daily alive before under similar circumstances, they note, in Honolulu.
Liz Brown, administrative officer for the Pacific Northwest Newspaper Guild, said she mentioned the possibility to Don Kendall, who heads Black Press' new King County operations, at a meeting last month.
"I told him, 'You could save the day again,' " said Brown, whose union represents workers at both Seattle papers.
But Kendall said he's never discussed buying or printing the P-I with Black. What's more, he added, Seattle isn't Honolulu.
Publishing the P-I would require a huge investment on Black's part, not just in equipment but in people, said John Morton, a leading national newspaper analyst.
"It would be a very daunting prospect," he said.
Click on the headlne to read the Seattle Times story by Eric Pryne
If David Black "saves" the Seattle paper the way he "saved" the BJ, then the newsroom personnel better prepare its resumes for a job elsewhere and the retirees should start figuring out how they can make up for the medical coverage changes that will eat into their pensions. How is decimating a newsroom saving a newspaper?
ReplyDelete--John Olesky