Seattle P-I To Publish Final Print Edition Tuesday, Then Become a Web-Only Operation

The seemingly never-ending stream of bad news on the newspaper front continues. The 146-year-old Seattle Post-Intelligencer will print its final edition Tuesday.

Hearst Corp., which owns the P-I, had no luck finding a buyer for the paper, which was put up for sale in January after losing money for years.

But in a first for a large American newspaper, the P-I will become a web-only operation, although with a much smaller staff. The P-I had 181 employees, but The Associated Press reported that the website would employ about 20 people in the newsroom and another 20 in ad sales.

Observers say it will be interesting to see whether the P-I's web-only operation can survive. Other papers - like the Capital Times in Madison, Wisconsin - have converted to the web. But this will be the first time it's been done with a paper as large as the P-I.

Hearst CEO Frank Bennack Jr. said in a press release that "Our goal now is to turn seattlepi.com into the leading news and information portal in the region." Steven Swartz, president of Hearst Newspapers, said in the release the website "isn't a newspaper online -- it's an effort to craft a new type of digital business with a robust, community news and information website at its core."

Seattle now becomes a one-paper city with just the Seattle Times, the P-I's larger rival, still printing. Hearst has also said it would close or sell the San Francisco Chronicle if the paper couldn't quickly cut costs.

The P-I is just the latest newspaper to close its doors.

Earlier this year the Rocky Mountain News in Denver was shut down after its owner couldn't find a buyer. In Arizona, Gannett Co.'s Tucson Citizen is set to close Saturday, leaving one newspaper there.

Read more here about why newspapers are faring so poorly, and what the future may hold for print journalism.