Seattle P-I lives!

Hearst press release

HEARST CORPORATION ANNOUNCES AGREEMENT TO CONTINUE OPERATION OF THE SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER

NEW YORK, April 16, 2007 — Hearst Corporation today announced that it has reached agreement with the Seattle Times Company to continue publication of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer (P-I) under the Joint Operating Agreement (JOA).

"We are very happy to reach an agreement that allows for the continued publication of the P-I, providing the Seattle area with the benefit of competing editorial voices and giving readers a choice,” said George Irish, president of Hearst Newspapers.

Under the terms of the agreement, the parties agreed to settle all outstanding litigation and to terminate Hearst’s 32 percent contingent interest in the JOA. Hearst is paying the Seattle Times approximately $25 million in exchange for the Times agreeing not to issue any loss notice until at least 2016.



http://poynter.org/forum/view_post.asp?id=12482

 

Frank, you beat me to it...just got it in e-mail.

From the SeaTimes:

Agreement reached between Seattle Times and Hearst Corporation
By Sharon Pian Chan
Seattle Times staff reporter
In an agreement that will allow both of Seattle's daily newspapers to continue publishing for now, The Seattle Times Company and Hearst Corporation, which owns the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, have settled a four-year legal battle to end their joint operating agreement.

The Seattle Times Company, which is owned by the Blethen family, will pay $49 million to Hearst. Hearst will pay $25 million to continue the joint operating agreement, which allows Hearst to run the P-I's newsroom and the Seattle Times Company to run circulation and advertising for both papers. The Times company has also dropped all claims against Hearst.

Also, the agreement now contains a provision to try to assist the P-I's Circulation.


note: whoohoo!!!!

 

Good, maybe no one loses a job.

 

Wow, this is great news. The best paper in Seattle will continue.

 

NEWSPAPERS!

these damn things are gonna put blogs out of business

 

And what paper in the metro area is supposedly second best? The PI is better than the Times. Sorry.

 

This made my day. Thanks, Hoops!

 

Always good news in this climate when hundreds actually KEEP their jobs, especially when it keeps competition alive in an important market. Good on those who made the effort to block the move; hopefully, they rise up next time as well. (Shouldn't be too long).

 

i'm eagerly awaiting the idiot response.

 

The only other paper they might be referring to is the Tacoma News Tribune.

 

AP says the deal contains language that would allow the P-I to convert to a tabloid, and forces the Times to take reasonable action to accommodate such a conversion.