On Monday, the newsroom fell silent as the announcement was made. "Hearts is announcing today that the P-I will become an online only news operation. The last print edition will appear tomorrow," said Roger Oglesby.
The paper, which began in 1863, will now be entirely web-based. Most of the 180 staff members will be let go.
Seattle Post-Intelligencer reporters fear the loss of their job will have far reaching effects:
"Everytime you lose a pair of eyes on government, then citizens have less access, and it's a real loss," said Seattle Post-Intelligencer reporter Angela Galloway.
Newspapers across the nation are in peril. In February, the Rocky Mountain News printed its last edition, citing losses over $16 million.
The Chicago Tribune and Philadelphia Inquirer are both owned by companies facing bankruptcy. And employees at the San Francisco Chronicle were asked to vote between saving their jobs or saving the paper. They voted 10-1 to save the paper, knowing it would likely cost them their livelihood.
"I dressed in black because I went to a funeral, a funeral of my job and I love the chronicle so much," said Emogene Thomas with the San Francisco Chronicle.
While many organizations are moving to internet-only formats, analysts warn this could be a dangerous trend for the industry.
"Where do people think the news online comes from? If we kill all the news organizations, and we kill all the newspapers, the richness of what we have online is going to disappear," said former editor of Time Magazine Walter Isaacson.
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