Hearst Corp, owner of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, has decided to close the doors of the print operation and turn it’s publication strictly to it’s website. The historic move, the first major newspaper to do so, will occur after 146 years of delivering the news to the people on paper. Last year the paper posted a loss of 14 million dollars.

While the move idles production personnel involved with the production of the physical newspaper, it has created twenty new jobs for ad sales and in increased focus on the jobs held by web producers and other content managers.

What will happen to the subscribers? Beginning Wednesday March 18th, 2009 subscribers will be automatically switched over to the Seattle Times. Apparently if you want to cancel instead you can call 206-464-2121 and they will handle your request. (source: seattlepi.com)

The Post-Intelligencer is not the only paper in trouble these days. This decision by Hearst Corp was made after putting the paper up for sale for 60 days this year and finding themselves without a buyer. The LA Times, Star Tribune, Chicago Tribune, and the Philadelphia Inquirer has sought bankruptcy protection in recent months as a sign of the economy and of the needs of their readers. Expect more industries to seek business solutions along these or other creative lines as our economic position changes in our near future.

Reference:
Ad Sales Job Profile:

Advertising sales agents—often referred to as account executives or advertising sales representatives—sell or solicit advertising primarily for newspapers and periodicals, television and radio, websites, telephone directories, and direct mail and outdoor advertisers. Because such a large share of revenue for many of these media outlets is generated from advertising, advertising sales agents play an important role in their success. (*2)

Web Producer Job Profile:

Typically web producers work in conjunction with department managers, internal clients, or with account managers at interactive agencies to produce content for the web. Responsibilities vary from location to location however basic requirements are usually inclusive of general knowledge of the code base used on-site, previous experience with interpreting business requirements, maintaining relationships with internal and external clients, and presentation skills.

Sources:

1. Seattle P-I
2. Bureau of labor and statistics
3. Star Tribune

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See related stories: 2009, newspaper, seattle

This story was posted on Monday, March 16th, 2009 for the following departments News from the world, layoff