Seattle Post-Intelligencer
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer (popularly known as the Seattle P-I, the Post-Intelligencer, or simply the P-I) is an online newspaper and former print newspaper based in Seattle, Washington, United States.
Type
The newspaper was founded in 1863 as the weekly Seattle Gazette, and was later published daily in broadsheet format. It was long one of the city's two daily newspapers, along with The Seattle Times, until it became an online-only publication on March 18, 2009.
Joint operating agreement[edit]
From 1983 to 2009, the P-I and The Seattle Times had a joint operating agreement (JOA) whereby advertising, production, marketing, and circulation were run for both papers by The Seattle Times company. They maintained separate news and editorial departments. The papers published a combined Sunday edition, although the Times handled the majority of the editorial content while the P-I only provided a small editorial/opinions section.
In 2003 the Times tried to cancel the JOA, citing a clause in it that three consecutive years of losses were cause for cancelling the agreement.[15] Hearst disagreed, and immediately filed suit to prevent the Times from cancelling the agreement. Hearst argued that a force majeure clause prevented the Times from claiming losses in 2000 and 2001 as reason to end the JOA, because they resulted from extraordinary events (in this case, a seven-week newspaper strike).
Each side publicly accused the other of attempting to put its rival out of business. The trial judge granted a summary judgment in Hearst's favor on the force majeure issue. But after two appeals, the Washington State Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Times on June 30, 2005, on the force majeure clause, reversing the trial-court judge. The two papers settled the issue on April 16, 2007.
The JOA ended in 2009 with the cessation of the P-I print edition.[13]
Awards[edit]
The P-I was notable for its two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist, David Horsey.[16]
Notable reports[edit]
Report on Judge Gary Little[edit]
Investigative reporting on King County Superior Court Judge Gary Little's out-of-court contact with juvenile defendants revealed accusations that Little molested young boys while he was a teacher at Seattle's exclusive Lakeside School between 1968 and 1971. It also revealed inappropriate contact between Little and juveniles appearing before him after he became a judge. On August 19, 1988, after reporter Duff Wilson called the judge to advise him the newspaper was publishing the story, Little shot himself in the King County Courthouse. The ethical debates surrounding the publication of the story – and the network of connections that protected Little – are taught in journalism classes, and led to reforms in the way judges are disciplined in Washington state.
Conduct Unbecoming series[edit]
In 2006 the P-I became the subject of a complaint to the Washington News Council for its reporting on the King County Sheriff's Office. The media watch-dog group ruled against the P-I, agreeing with Sheriff Sue Rahr's complaint that the newspaper had unfairly disparaged the Sheriff's Office.[17] The P-I declined to participate in the proceedings, and opted instead to give a detailed reply on its website.[18]
Notable employees[edit]
Notable employees of the P-I have included two-time Pulitzer Prize winning editorial cartoonist and commentator David Horsey, two-time Pulitzer Prize winning investigative reporter Eric Nalder, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and author Timothy Egan, journalist and author Darrell Bob Houston ("King of the Midnight Blue," a novel loosely based on the noted highjacking by D.B. Cooper), the novelists E. B. White, Frank Herbert, Tom Robbins, Adam Schefter and Emmett Watson, as well as Andrew Schneider, who won two Pulitzer Prizes for specialized reporting and public service while working at The Pittsburgh Press.[28]
Official website
Media related to Seattle Post-Intelligencer at Wikimedia Commons