Wild (?) Speculation of the Week: Hearst to Buy Belo
From a Seattle-based carbon life form:
KING-5 here in Seattle, a Belo station, began reporting yesterday that the Seattle Post-Intelligencer was to close. There’s been wild and rampant speculation as to how they and they alone could know this (they continue to stand by the story). One of the rumors that came down was that Belo was acquired by Hearst, and since Hearst cannot own a newpaper and television station in the same market, Hearst would be forced to shut down the PI. The only possible source of that information would appear to be through Belo. We really don’t know what’s going on. Everyone at both the Times and PI are stunned. And no one can figure out the source of that story. Either that reporter is the best reporter in the city, or she’s the village idiot. Which I guess depends on whether this report is true.
Update: To clarify, the idea is that Hearst has bought Belo (broacasting), not A.H. Belo (newspapers).
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Looks like it was the best reporter in town…
SEATTLE — Hearst Corp. put Seattle’s oldest newspaper, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, up for sale Friday, saying that if it can’t find a buyer in the next 60 days, the paper will close or continue to exist only on the Internet.
“These options include a move to a digital only operation with a greatly reduced staff, or a complete shutdown of all operations,” Hearst, the P-I’s parent company, said in a statement. “In no case will Hearst continue to publish the P-I in printed form following the conclusion of this process.”
Hearst Newspaper Division President Steve Swartz broke the news in a meeting with newspaper employees.
The statement said Hearst is not considering buying The Seattle Times, the city’s other daily paper. Hearst has owned the P-I since 1921, and the paper has had operating losses since 2000, including $14 million last year.
The mood in the newsroom was grim. Some staff members cried. Others were visibly shaken and angry.
“People are kind of depressed. There’s some crying,” said Candace Heckman, P-I breaking news editor who has worked at the paper since 2000.
The story is on http://www.king5.com (AP contributed to the story).
I can’t believe that a market like Seattle has had 2 papers until now.