Today we mourn the death of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. The United States was 87 years old when the paper published its first edition; today it publishes its last. Editor & Publisher and the E&P Pub are good places to go for coverage.

There’s good news in the story, though. As I wrote a couple of weeks ago, newspapers need to radically rethink their business models for the digital age. They have to stop being in the paper business and focus on being in the news business.

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer is doing this. The physical paper is folding, but the digital paper will continue.

The months ahead, maybe the years ahead, will be filled with turmoil. The Post-Intelligencer is taking point position for exploring new territory. There are snipers in the weeds and countless dangers that can never be anticipated.

May they reach a safe haven relatively unscathed and healthy.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 17th, 2009 at 9:01 am and is filed under Internet Stuff, This 'n' That.