'Seattle Times' Executive Editor Tackles 'P-I' Readers Head-On

By: Joe Strupp Executive Editor David Boardman of The Seattle Times greeted thousands of new readers this morning with a Page One column directed at former subscribers of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

With the P-I publishing its last print edition on Tuesday, The Seattle Times Company -- which had handled circulation of both papers in the former JOA -- automatically began delivering the Times to P-I subscribers.

Boardman's column, printed along the left-hand side, stated: "We know that many of your families had decades-long loyalty to the P-I, and that you've lost a familiar friend. We'll work hard to earn that same level of trust and loyalty each and every day forward, beginning with Wednesday's edition."

Boardman went on to announce he would host an online chat on March 23.

"The Times is a locally owned paper dedicated to community service," he wrote. "We're known nationally for our investigative reporting, compelling writing, excellent design and outstanding photography. Year after year, our Sports and Business sections are recognized as among the best in America."

He also informed them that several P-I features were transferred to the Times, among them: Dilbert, Zits, Blondie, 9 Chickweed Lane, Pearls Before Swine and Red & Rover.

The Times also took three syndicated feature columns and the famed New York Times crossword puzzle.

"Unfortunately, economic conditions will not allow us to hire any P-I journalists at this time," he added. "As you may know, we ? like nearly every newspaper in America ? have been forced to reduce the size of our own staff in recent months because of a severe downturn in advertising revenue."

The P-I's first Web-only morning looked similar to its recent home page reports, with a handful of memories from the paper's printed past that were posted earlier in the week, as well as the last Page One image still available.

The top stories were about notable news in the area, with little recognition of the first day without a print product.