Today brings word of another exchange of letters between Seattle's Committee for a Two-Newspaper Town and the Hearst Corporation. It begins with this letter from the committee:

February 12, 2009

Eve Burton
Vice President and General Counsel
Hearst Corporation
300 West 57th Street
New York, New York 10019
SENT VIA E-MAIL to XXXX@XXXX.com

Dear Ms. Burton,

Thank you for your letter of February 4, 2009, responding to our questions about Hearst’s intentions in Seattle. We appreciate your candor regarding the company’s relationship with the Seattle Times. Because your letter raised new questions, we hope to continue a productive dialogue with you.

Our main concern is whether Hearst intends to maintain a news gathering operation of the same vitality that exists now. Thus, it would help to know the size and nature of the staffing that would be associated with a Hearst-owned Web site. The Committee for a Two-Newspaper Town shares the community’s concern that the “greatly reduced staff” considered by Hearst would function more as a blog manager than a content producer.

A lesser concern that arose from your letter is whether another legal battle with the Seattle Times is brewing. We request that you clarify the basis of your statement that a Web-only PI would operate “outside the JOA.” Does this reflect your independent legal opinion, or are you describing a negotiated understanding with the Times? Does the Times believe a Webonly publication would be bound by the JOA? To what extent do Hearst’s plans hinge on resolution of this matter?

Primarily, we remain concerned that the community will not have adequate time to respond, if Hearst should decide to shut down the P-I entirely instead of maintaining a Web publication. We therefore reiterate our request that Hearst reveal its intentions as soon as possible.

As you know, our goal is to ensure that Seattle maintains two daily newspapers.

Accordingly, we invite you to discuss with us, confidentially, how we might work with Hearst to accomplish this goal. We look forward to your additional response.

Sincerely,

Anne Bremner and Phil Talmadge
CTNT co-chairs

cc Roger Oglesby

In the last go-round, the committee was successful at prying some answers out of Hearst, but this time... not so much:

February 19, 2009

Ms. Anne Bremner and
Mr. Phil Talmadge
Co-Chairs, Committee for a Two-Newspaper Town
c/o Law Offices of Charlotte Cassady

SENT VIA E-MAIL to XXXX@XXXX.com

Dear Anne and Phil:

I have received your letter of February 12, 2009. At this time, we simply have not finalized our plans. We will be communicating our plans to our employees and the public once they are finalized.

Sincerely,

Eve Burton

cc.: Roger Oglesby

More on all of this in next week's Stranger.