In a move that surprises no one, Hearst finally announced today that the Seattle P-I will stop printing tomorrow. What took so long?

Maudlin fact: the P-I is Seattle's oldest business, making the whole thing sad in a historic sense, at least, like when the 150-year-old Rocky Mountain News folded a few weeks ago.

Silver lining: The company will continue to run the website, "making it the nation's largest daily newspaper to shift to an entirely digital news product." Although for the handful of reporters who survive, the pay will suck.
Also, at least Seattle still has another paper! This is just the latest in the "Death of two-paper towns that are not New York," which will be continuing for the rest of this year.

Mystery: Uh, since it's been pretty clear for months that the paper was going to die, why the fuck did Hearst wait so long to announce it, and force the reporters there to go investigating the date of their own demise? That's cold-blooded. Bad karma, Hearst.

Other than that, this is as expected. Miami, San Antonio, Minneapolis—all fair guesses of who could be next. [Seattle PI]