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Tuesday, August 11, 2009

After the bankruptcy of the Post-Intelligencer, Seattle became a one daily newspaper city. As a result, the private owners of the Seattle Times announced that the paper has been turning a profit in recent months. (Yes, Bill Maher...profit).

The Times has experienced a 30 percent increase in daily circulation - great news for any company in a dying industry during a recession. The lesson here is quite obvious. Companies, especially those in dying industries, must be allowed to fail. The shifting demand of Seattle's residents could no longer support two daily newspapers. One paper's failure allowed the other to succeed.

Additionally, naysayers have no grounds on which to call "monopoly" as multiple substitute channels for news still exist, including (but not limited to) non-daily newspapers, radio, television, and the Internet. In fact, the Post-Intelligencer, while ceasing production of the print paper, have retained a small staff, supported by 200 unpaid bloggers, to continue the online news site. Amazingly, traffic to the site has stayed the same, and revenue is ahead of projections.

Several former Post-Intelligencer reporters now maintain their own Seattle area news sites, further increasing the options available to consumers. This is another benefit of bankruptcy - the opportunity for entrepreneurship and innovation.

Instead of propping up a failing company in a dying industry through a taxpayer-funded bailout, the Post-Intelligencer was allowed to fail. Out of its ashes, a new, more vibrant news industry arose in Seattle.

Posted by Eleutherian

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