"Were it left for me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the later." -Thomas Jefferson
I saw this quote everyday as I climbed the stairs to the third floor of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer building to the photographers room on the third floor. The first time I saw the quote it really inspired me. Newspapers are full of the most talented journalists in the world. Newspapers do the most in depth, accurate, and insightful stories out of every media outlet. The fact that so many papers around the country are closing is scary as a citizen of a country with a free press. When papers have no money to cover stories that need to be told who will fill that gap?
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer went up for sale today by its parent company Hearst. The Seattle Times just went through another major round of layoffs and is not faring well either. Seattle could become a major metro city in the United States without a dedicated daily paper. Hopefully something changes and the Post-Intelligencer can continue in some fashion.
My heart goes out to all the amazing journalists and wonderful people at the paper I called home for four brief months.
seattlepi.com
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/395463_newspapersale10.html
http://www.kuow.org/program.php?current=TC
It's a sad day.
Sincerely,
Brad Vest
