Serendipity

Whether they know it or not, in just a few days the Seattle P-I morphed from dinosaur to beehive. Linking to local reporting around Puget Sound, readers of the P-I website could choose from a tasty menu of longer and more local stories- that have big implications for the region as a whole. The new ferries chief, a medical marijuana trial, the tribes versus the state on saving the salmon- local reporting is better, but the stories are hardly local.

There's volumes to unpack here, starting with the possible improvement of outlook for the small town paper and the big city daily, which now can focus, as in our federalistic form of government, on what they do best. And really, when metro areas go over a million, how could it be otherwise?

Whether the management at the P-I sees this or not is a different question. Enjoy it- and encourage it- while you can. It may not last forever.