Hearst seeks buyer for Post-Intelligencer
Posted by Leah McBride Mensching on January 12, 2009 at 7:52 PM
Hearst Corp. will sell its Seattle Post-Intelligencer newspaper after losing US$14 million in 2008, Bloomberg reported. If a buyer cannot be found within 60 days, Hearst plans to either take the paper online-only and cut jobs, or shut the paper down, the New York-based publisher announced in a statement.
"Our losses have reached an unacceptable level," Steven Swartz, president of Hearst's newspaper unit, said in the statement Friday. The newspaper has had operating losses since 2000.
"Our losses have reached an unacceptable level," Steven Swartz, president of Hearst's newspaper unit, said in the statement Friday. The newspaper has had operating losses since 2000.
The newspaper, launched in 1863, is Seattle's oldest newspaper, and has been owned by Hearst since 1921. Operating losses are expected to climb above $14 million in 2009, Bloomberg reported.
Should the Seattle Post-Intelligencer be shuttered, the city would be left with one daily, The Seattle Times, which also has not turned a profit since 2000, The Times reported. Although many agree competition is best, others argue "a community is better served by one newspaper with at least a shot at economic success than by two competing papers plummeting toward financial oblivion," according to The Times.
Should the Seattle Post-Intelligencer be shuttered, the city would be left with one daily, The Seattle Times, which also has not turned a profit since 2000, The Times reported. Although many agree competition is best, others argue "a community is better served by one newspaper with at least a shot at economic success than by two competing papers plummeting toward financial oblivion," according to The Times.
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