Techflash offers ten steps to save the P-I

Taken as a whole, the list is eerily accurate; I could almost have written it myself. And we all know that whether or not I agree with something is the ultimate measure of accuracy…

There is, though, one point that I think Todd Bishop misses. Here’s his step one, see if you can spot my gripes:

1) Show Hearst the door: Any plan for preserving the P-I will require the community’s wholesale support. Hearst doesn’t have it. Announcing its intention to sell the paper, then refusing to answer questions from the staff, puts the company right up there with Clay Bennett in the ranks of out-of-town owners. Hearst doesn’t want to be here. Let’s grant that wish.

I agree that answering questions would have been a nice gesture – but let’s be honest, does tip-toeing around layoffs sound like the sin of external management? I think plenty of bosses in Seattle have treated their soon-to-be-former employees far worse.

The real point behind item number one is two-fold: first, that the owners must sweep bureaucracy aside and make way for the innovators.

Without question, this must happen if the P-I is to survive and move forward. I have no argument here except that Todd should recognize that if Hearst is capable of that type of leadership, then there is no reason it can not or should not stay in the picture.

Second, Bishop seems to claim that the local community will not rally around the P-I unless the ownership is local. This is emphatically not true, as is evidenced by, oh, say, the community (of which Todd is a member).

But aside from those two little nitpicks on my part, I’d say his 10-point list is pretty excellent. And some people even think it’s the path the Hearst is already on.