At a regularly-scheduled meeting of Seattle Post-Intelligencer managers this afternoon, Roger Oglesby, the newspaper’s publisher, shared a little bit of new information.
Confirming earlier indications, Oglesby said that no final date has been set for the last print edition of the P-I. Why the continuing limbo? According to one P-I source, Oglesby replied something along the lines of: “Some things have to happen that haven’t happened.”
And what are those things that still have to happen? According to two P-I sources, Oglesby said that he wouldn’t elaborate because he didn’t want the information ending up on Slog.
Other tidbits from the meeting: Oglesby denied rumors that a last-minute buyer has been found, and managers were advised that shredders and more recycle bins are on their way to the P-I offices later this week.
UPDATE: An additional report comes via an e-mail account of the meeting that was sent to Pacific Northwest Newspaper Guild leaders earlier this afternoon and is now making the rounds among guild members:
From: XXXX@XXXX.XXX
Sent: Tuesday, March 10, 2009 2:05 PM
To: XXXXX
Subject: P-I latest
Managers just came out of a meeting with Roger. Information packets on health insurance will be distributed tomorrow. Boxes will be available for staff to start clearing out their desk. Shreaders [sic] will be made available, but NO decision has been announced as to what the last day will be. Severly [sic] pregnant Business Editor Margaret Santjer apparently pleaded for some definite information, but Roger just snapped at her that there would be nothing further.
If you throw every rumor and bit of speculation up here eventually something will turn out to be right. Then you can boast, “As reported here on Slog…”
There’s being on top of a story, and then there’s going overboard with every unverified piece of claptrap that someone e-mails you.
crap crap crap crap crap
I love it! Keep up the good work Eli…. fun to speculate who the Deep Throat in the managers’ meeting might be… hmmm….
Wish that damn rumor yesterday about a buyer was true!
a bit obsessed @2, eh?
theres a lot of people who dont want to see this information on slog but mos of us are just bored with it
Go Eli, go! We’re not getting any information inside the P-I, so you’re our only source of intel! Please keep up the great reporting.
— P-I reporter
“severely pregnant.” ouch.
The only thing more boring than a lot of posts about the demise of the PI are the endless dumbass posts from Trolls whining about the posts about the demise of the PI…
Also annoying: the Troll or Trolls who never use the same name twice…
Kill them.
Now.
Before they breed.
“Severely pregnant” How is that relevant on any level?…
Was anyone in the room severely myopic or severely obese?
What it the relevance on her medical condition?
Not sure if I should agree w/ you @ 7, but I want to: Yeah, that seemed rude of Mr. Oglesby to snap at a pregnant woman. Don’t get me wrong, I feel for everyone’s predicament, but I feel especially for her’s. Damn.
If people are being told to clean out their desks, I suspect that the end is nigh.
So what you’re saying then is: All your previous reports on the P-I closing today…were wrong? Darn if the Stranger doesn’t run corrections after all.
6 – why don’t you retards make a blogspot or livejournal to bitch about it further. Eli is just getting a little too obsessive on this topic and needs to get back reporting things that are important to us.
like pitbulls
and butt sex
and muhdik
and madrad
and foie gras
what’s getting shredded? the archives need to go to MOHAI.
I’m telling you — it’s pretty uncommon for newspapers to close midweek.
@9 i would imagine someone who is SEVERELY PREGNANT would be very close to giving birth. and would prefer to do so with her health insurance in tact. like, before she lost her job. that’s a severely crappy situation.
Sad news but…tell me that email tip wasn’t written by a copy editor. Man.
@9 I’m guessing you’ve never been severely pregnant. When you’re at that stage, you want to know how everything is going to play out in the short-term.
Besides, pregnancy is very expensive if you don’t have health insurance.
And even if you do have health insurance, it’s still very expensive.
YGBKM, once you have a pregnant wife/girlfriend you’ll understand, unless you’re so independently wealthy that things like health insurance are immaterial.
@ 19, I don’t believe you know what you’re talking about.
@21 – sadly I do.
does bill in seattle know whats what or not? tell me whether i should believe him
@21: Will never knows what he’s talking about. People here have learned to ignore the shit he makes up.
In fact, pregnancy and childbirth is covered quite well under most health insurance, unless there are complications that require extended hospital stays, etc.
@ 24, WIS also thinks he’s clever. His statement probably refers to the expenses of bringing a baby into your home (car seats, cribs, clothes, diapers, and so forth) and not medical costs.
As rjh @ 25 says, if you’re insured you’re most likely only going to owe a co-pay to your doctors and hospital – not cheap, but only a teeny tiny fraction of what the total expense is, and not supportive of whatever point WIS thinks he’s making.
We were “covered quite well” — insurance paid 95% of the hospital bill.
Of course, when the bill is over $20,000, “covered quite well” is a bit of a cold comfort.
fags do not understand very pregnant women – so shut up
their suffering husbands have a little insight, they do get tons of respect, and all the rest mends post partum by two months
Signed, Daddy for real
You also frequently can’t work for a few weeks, and now have another dependent child that you can’t get a babysitter for – in most daycares you can’t even get day care until they’re one year old.
But insist that I’m wrong and that obstetrics insurance is cheap if you must and that you’ll be just like fieldworkers in Fiji and go back to work the next day …
i dont know about fiji will in seattle. whats it like?
Actually, many daycare centers DO accept infants. Not newborns, but infants 3 months old and up.
See, I know a bit of what I’m talking about because I’m a dad and have been there twice.
Now, Will, you’re moving the goalposts. Let’s review your first post:
So you imply here that we’re speaking of medical costs – NOT insurance, NOT childcare, just medical costs.
If you have medical insurance, most plans only call for you to pay a copay. Some plans, esp. high deductible plans, mean a higher out of pocket expense. Some plans screw you over even more. But your blanket statement is about all insurance. So your statement is inaccurate.
If you wanted to talk about the details, you should have brought them up.
Childcare costs, and whether you are getting paid for your care-of-newborn leave (as “maternity leave” is now known) are other topics. It wasn’t what you were talking about; if it was what you meant, then you should have said so.
Anyway, as I said I doubt you know much about the topic, and your subsequent post hasn’t dispelled that impression. Maybe you can convince me otherwise.
Why are those bored with coverage of this story reading the updates? Go for a walk, get some fresh air, or get a hobby other than complaining about the Stranger.
Back to the topic at hand …
Thank you, Eli, for your frequent posts. We in The Times’ newsroom really feel for our counterparts on Elliott Ave. We’ve competed on stories together, we’ve been on strike together. They’re hard-working decent people who care about this city’s future.
A lot of us have spouses and friends who work there.
And while it wouldn’t be appropriate for us to run all the death-watch updates you’ve done, we do read every one.
And with each one, a little of us dies, too.
Thanks again.
IMPORTANT UPDATE – Eli has another rumor from the P-I newsroom. RED ALERT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ZOMG!!!!!!
So… Nine months (or so) ago, when this presumably well educated woman decided to become severely pregnant in March 2009, and (or then) when she exercised her choice to continue down the path toward being severely pregnant in March 2009, a career at the PI seemed (to this presumably well educated woman (who presumably knows a thing or two about local businesses (including, one would presume, the one she works For)) I mean, she is the God Damn Business Editor for the PI for Christ sake!) like the sort of stable, reliable, earning opportunity that one could rely on (when one is severely pregnant) to pay the bills and provide insurance?
If the PI’s Business Editor didn’t know the PI was in trouble nine months ago then it’s no wonder the PI (and her) are going tits up (lactating or not).
She’s either not very bright or made very poor choices…
You girls do realize that you have the right to choose not to carry a fetus you can’t afford to term don’t you?…
@35 Dude. Shut up. This isn’t about being pregnant and we can see your ignorant underpants.
@36-
Um… Yeah. That was my original point way back @ 9:
“Severely pregnant” How is that relevant on any level?…
Was anyone in the room severely myopic or severely obese?
What it the relevance on her medical condition?