Someone asked if I was planning to post a summary of yesterday's Seattle City Council committee meeting about the demise of newspapers, and I said no, I was too lazy. (Here's an excellent account by Cory Bergman.)
Well, I got un-lazy and decided as an experiment to assemble my tweets of the event into a narrative. This was kind of a pain because I had to cut and paste all the tweets into chronological order, which is the opposite of how they are displayed on my Twitter page.
Anyhow, here it is, 90 minutes worth of tweeting, 47 tweets, typos included. Reads pretty well if I do say so myself.
I'm in the City Council Chamber at City Hall for the committee meeting at which the fate of newspapers in Seattle will be discussed.
You can watch live on the Seattle Channel, on cable in Seattle or on the Web anywhere. http://seattlechannel.org/
I'll report anything noteworthy but I'm not expecting any news to break out here.
City Council committee meeting background: http://tinyurl.com/dnxlzd
About 40 people in the audience, including people who will testify.
If you're watching on TV, right now some non-media business is being handled by he Culture, Civil Rights, Health and Personnel committee.
OK, now we're starting the newspapers discussion.
I think Tracy Record of the West Seattle Blog must be Twittering this live from the council committee table. She's got her MacBook set up.
This could end up being Newspaper Business 101, which isn't a bad thing for those who haven't been paying attention.
Today the average American household "receives less than half a newspaper a day," says UW comm prof Roger Simpson Ain't it the truth.
Says former Times reporter Doug Underwood, now at UW: JOAs "put off the demise of the traditional, industrial newspapers for many years."
We've returned to a time when no media outlet can dominate, as in the 18th century, says Underwood.
Huffington Post and its ilk essentially "rip off" established media, says Underwood.
Anne Bremner, a prominent Seattle lawyer and co-chair of the Committee for a Two Newspaper Town: "We have been meeting. We've been quiet."
Kathy George, former P-I reporter, lawyer, and with CTNT, suggests the City Council could provide leadership in finding a buyer for the P-I.
CTNT is calling on Hearst to reveal its intentions ASAP so the community can decide what needs to be done, says George.
She's referring to Hearst's suggestion it might keep the P-I alive online. Hearst has been coy. http://tinyurl.com/asf2zf
Liz Brown, Pacific Northwest Newspaper Guild: In 1993, 820 Guild members at Seattle Times. Now half that.
Newspaper journalists don't feel comfortable calling attention to their problem because of ethics concerns, says Brown.
Jennifer Towery of the Peoria, Ill., Guild, via phone: Three alternatives to for-profit model are nonprofit, employee coop, and public.
Towery: "Local ownership doesn't mean benign ownership. Frank Blethen note.
<-Close the quote after "benign ownership."
Now talking about low-profit model — "L3C." http://tinyurl.com/dhomcc
Now David Brewster, publisher of Crosscut, and Tracy Record of the West Seattle Blog. Brewster is my recent former boss.
Record: Saving newspapers is misplaced. It's a delivery model. "There are new ways of newsgathering and dissemination."
"We're serving our neighborhoods on a more granular level than ever," says Record.
P-I is doing the best job ogf the two dailies in the online world, says Record.
David Brewster of Crosscut: "The advertising-supported model of journalism, whether it's online or whether it's in print, is in trouble."
Brewster on Crosscut's switch to non-profit: More revenue streams — memberships and grants, a la public radio.
Rather than engaging in preservation, says Brewster, have the confidence that good stuff will grow up beneath the big oak trees.
Young readers are very adept at navigating the new media landscape of professional journalists and crazy bloggers alike.
Continues Brewster: Let this play out. It probably won't be the twin-peak model of two newspapers. There will be 14 smaller peaks.
Beth Hester, head of the Seattle Channel, says they had 5 million "hits" in 2008. What's a "hit"? Page view? Unique visitor?
Hester: "We've been a beneficiary of the downsizing of big media," in terms of refuges employees. From KCTS-TV, I might add.
Hester clarifies: By hit, she meant page view.
Hester: "Print drives the agenda. ... We're bringing that in a different format to a slightly different audience."
No way can TV make up for the loss of hundreds of journalists, says Hester.
Now we're moving into general discussion of the fate of newspapers in Seattle, at a City Council hearing.
You can watch live on the Seattle Channel, on cable in Seattle or on the Web anywhere: http://seattlechannel.org/
The Seattle Chanel broadcast of this meeting will be available for streaming in perpetuity.
"Recreating the public sphere" in which good journalism appears is the challenge, says Doug Underwood.
Tracy Record of the WSB is talking about how the ultimate value of the Web is in the fact there are many sources with many spins.
David Brewster: Big newspapers are pulling back from city halls but small Web sites are stepping in.
Anne Bremner: Seattle is fortunate to have two newspapers, and they're both worth keeping as important institutions.
City Council member Nick Licata is wrapping up the meeting, saying city government might be able to foster a solution.
He clarifies a spurious media report: The city does not intend to buy the Seattle P-I.
That's it. Meeting adjourned. Also Twittering this: @moniguzman, @jseattle
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