WASHINGTON — In some ways, the Seattle P-I is one of the best testbeds the country’s got going for what local journalism will look like after the city paper takes its inevitable place behind the glass case at the Smithsonian.
The paper, formerly the beta daily in a two-newspaper town, ended its 146-year print run in March, a victim of declining circulations and the spare economics of digital advertising.
The paper, though eulogized thoroughly, was reborn as a Web-only experiment, a digital news organization pruned from an editorial staff of almost 180 down to about 20.
“It’s an adventure,” said Monica Guzman, who carriers the title of “news gatherer” at the online-only incarnation of the Seattle P.I.