Little to cheer about

This October 11, 1954 photograph of Deadwood-born actress Dorothy “Dotty” Provine appeared in the once ubiquitous Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Provine was then a 19-year-old co-ed cheering for the University of Washington in their football battle against the University of Oregon.

There was little to cheer about that day, since Washington lost to the Ducks, 26-7.

There’s even less to cheer about today around Seattle. The economy is a mess, Boeing Aircraft is struggling mightily, and the newspaper has gone under.

Unable to find a buyer, Post-Intelligencer has announced that it’s shutting down print operations. This dire situation was suggested in our earlier posting about the Post-Intelligncer. Declining advertising revenue and subscriptions have taken their toll. After 146 years of serving the Pacific northwest with a printed newspaper, today (3/17/09) is their last edition.

More details about the Seattle shutdown can be found in this New York Times story. The upshot is this: while the print version is folding, Hearst Corporation says an on-line version of the Post-Intelligencer will continue. Reports indicate that only about 20 jobs will remain in the newsroom.

Here’s the statement made yesterday in the Post-Intelligencer newsroom by publisher Roger Oglesby:

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for the Post-Intelligencer.

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