Hearst “encouraged” by Seattle P-I transition so far

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer has been online-only for roughly three weeks now, and owner Hearst seems to think the transition is going well so far, according to Editor & Publisher.

Spokesman Paul Luthringer of Hearst, which owns the online news source, calls the data “above plan,” adding the company is “encouraged” by it.
The P-I’s last print edition was published on March 17. In the period from March 18 to April 7, the Web site had 1,253,964 page views, up by 1.2% over the same period in 2008, when page views reached 1,238,495.
Unique users, however, dropped about 10.7% to 199,001 during the web-only period, compared to 222,937 during the same period last year.
“This shows stability,” Luthringer said of the numbers. “You have to be heartened.”

The article also discusses some of the changes the remaining staff are working through, including covering more than one beat and taking photos more often, and how the paper is making decisions on what to cover and what to link to outside sources for.

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