Theater Nov 5, 2009 at 4:00 am

The Dying Theater Industry Stages a Play About the Dying Newspaper Industry

Comments

1
Sad. Much as I can't stand the media sometimes, the world will be a poorer place without newspapers like the PI. More important, maybe, is the fact that journalism is one of the rapidly dwindling number of professions that intelligent, driven people can do to make the world a better place rather than make money. If anyone thinks that blogs and YouTube will replace professional journalists, they'd better get used to drinking toxic sludge and getting (even more) screwed over by corrupt politicians.
2
more and more depressing is how investigative journalism seems already to be extinct. thanks to instantaneous communication, writers now have to be ready to publish as soon as something happens or someone out there will beat them to it and satiate the people's need for the story online where anyone can publish. wait a week to dig up all the facts, or publish before you're ready to make sales? the answer is sad and clear.
3
The papers will rise again, in new, unexpected forms. Numb minds breed twitchy fingers. The modern media, the infotainment, is hollow. It delivers ads, minus substance, which leads to boredom. And some people will start to crave real information, from people with integrity who earn their reader's trust, and see it as their most valuable asset. I can't name a media pundit who's earned my trust, except, perhaps John Stewart. He will speak the truth, as he sees it. The rest of them are all full of horse shit. And I can name a Seattle paper with cojones and integrity: The Stranger.

Want to branch out? Hire the best and brightest investigative journalists! A few just got laid off, after all, and will work for cheap. Many of the same people who love Dan Savage want the real meat on issues that matter, like urban poverty, education, drug abuse, the Duwamish, and, yes, even pygmy goats.
4
So how can we, the intrigued public, SEE this production?
6
without proper journalists, you get lowbrow made-for-TV wannabe performance pieces like “Get Jessie”
7
I saw this play last night and it was a hilarious and touching (and very local!) production. It was a cool feeling to sort of be experiencing the loss of the P-I with a group of others who care about the Seattle community.
8
Several P-I reporters known for in-depth journalism have teamed with the editor who supervised the P-I's investigative team in a new non-profit news venture known as InvestigateWest. Come see us at www.invw.org. We have active blogs and will soon have in-depth, multi-platform stories coming out about issues that matter.
Robert McClure

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