Seattle Post-Intelligencer: another indication of an online-only future?

A further indication that the future of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer lies on the web appeared yesterday, with reports that some staff members have been made informal offers to work for an online-only P-I. The Seattle P-I itself reported that two reporters admitted they had been told "they will be given formal offers if the Web site gets the go-ahead from Hearst's senior management". Current employee Hector Castro said that he turned down a potential role in the new online-only P-I due to the clauses - including a salary cut - which came with the proposal. However, Castro said that he "got the definite impression Hearst does plan to go forward with the site, assuming the paper stops publishing".

The report by Dan Richman in yesterday's P-I counted just 18 staffers (including nearly all the publication's online producers) who declined to comment on whether they had been selected for roles in an online-only P-I, a figure in line with previous speculation that such a site could be run with just 20 employees. Whilst still unconfirmed, parent company Hearst has given every indication that the Seattle Post-Intelligencer will be continued as an online publication. There is also now speculation that the end of the print edition could come as soon as next week, as the "WSJ reported that journalists on the publication who are working on stories about the paper's history for a final edition have been told to file their stories by the end of the week".

Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Media Week