The Seattle Times is in trouble. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer is in worse trouble.
Recent developments in the joint operating agreement (JOA) saga show the P-I‘s hopes of survival hinge on two things: either a victory in its lawsuit against the Times (the suit asks the court to bar the Times from invoking contractual clauses that would end the agreement next fall) or an intervention by the Justice Department.
Without one of those developments, the P-I is almost certainly kaput. The Hearst Corporation, the P-I‘s owner, admitted it is concerned about having enough time to try to sell the paper if things don’t go its way legally. Last week, Hearst lawyers asked a judge for an expedited hearing on its lawsuit against the Times, citing its need to try to sell the paper before an 18-month countdown to the ending of the JOA expires. An attempted sale would be a prelude to the paper’s dissolution. Times publisher Frank Blethen initiated the countdown in April.
Meanwhile, the Seattle Times Company’s finances are shaky. The Times has lost money for three straight years, and earlier this year the Hearst boys were dangling the prospect of refinancing Blethen’s substantial debt–on generous terms–if he’d agree not to try to shutter the P-I. Blethen held out for more concessions, prompting Hearst to go to war. If the P-I wins in court–or the feds block Blethen’s imperial ambitions–then the mercurial Times publisher is in a tough spot. Or at least his employees are.
