Bye-bye, PI
Mar. 17th, 2009 11:55 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jaunthieIt will continue on as an online-only venture, but the last paper printed today, and 90% of the staff are now out of work. I wish those that are gone and those that are staying all the best. I've been rooting for them to make it since they went on the block, and not just because of my fond memories of the integrity of one of their employees. Many years ago, my wallet fell out of my purse and was found by a PI staff member. They did a considerable amount of leg work in order to track me down, let me know they'd found it, and get it back to me. A very decent human being, and a decent paper. I hope the online version survives.
As more and more of our nation's daily newspapers go under, I worry about who - or whether - any other institution or people can take on that essential component of a functioning democracy: in-depth, investigative reporting. Sure, most of the 4th estate has fallen down on that job at a national level, particularly over the last 20 years, but look at the mess we're in now. The two are not unrelated. And it's just as essential (if not more so) on a local level, to have a paid group of professionals whose job it is to keep us informed (and keep us honest).
I'll turn over the last words to Mr. Horsey, the PI's editorial cartoonist:
As more and more of our nation's daily newspapers go under, I worry about who - or whether - any other institution or people can take on that essential component of a functioning democracy: in-depth, investigative reporting. Sure, most of the 4th estate has fallen down on that job at a national level, particularly over the last 20 years, but look at the mess we're in now. The two are not unrelated. And it's just as essential (if not more so) on a local level, to have a paid group of professionals whose job it is to keep us informed (and keep us honest).
I'll turn over the last words to Mr. Horsey, the PI's editorial cartoonist:
