So long, P-I

With a quick flick of the wrist I tossed the last print edition of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer from my driveway up to the front porch this morning. I remember when the newspaper was actually delivered to the front porch. But like the business environment for newspapers, how you got it and who delivered it has changed.

If you’re at all interested about why this is happening, you can treat yourself to dozens of stories both local and national. Per usual, Art Thiel has a great perspective. Without the P-I, Seattle is now a one paper town and the Seattle Times’ demise may not be far behind.

The shuttering of daily newspapers around the country should bother you as a consumer of sports news. Much of the content that is created by reporters who work sports beats drives what you hear on sports radio, what you read in sports blogs and what you watch on ESPN or Fox Sports. Without boots on the ground, you’ll lose access to unbiased information. Do you really think you’ll get all you need to know about Erik Bedard’s injury from Rick Rizz? How forthcoming will Seahawks.com be when Matt Hasselbeck “tweaks” his back again?

The Seattle P-I and possibly other dying newspapers will make the foray into Web-only publishing with smaller staffs who will “do everything.” The success or failure of these enterprises will unfold in time, but unless electronic media outlets begin to hire fulltime writers to follow our favorite teams on a daily basis, we’ll be less informed about what’s happening on and off the field.

Years ago, I twice had the pleasure of watching the newspapers I worked for go under and it’s terrible to watch an institution like the P-I call it quits. As sports fans – today, we all lose.