Viva La Cola!

Founded in January 2009, PubliCola is a blog about Seattle written by journalists who are dedicated to non-partisan, original daily reporting that prioritizes a balanced approach to news. Started by longtime local editor and award-winning reporter Josh Feit, PubliCola is the first online-only news site in state history to get media credentials to cover the state capitol.

PubliCola was off and running. In June 2009, PubliCola hired another award-winning journalist, super-sourced Seattle city hall reporter Erica C. Barnett.

People were afraid that blogging would change journalism. Instead, we believe journalism can change blogging. Twenty-first century journalism may look and feel different, and yes Erica isn't afraid to get cranky, but we're committed to making sure online news still delivers independent, reliable, even-keeled coverage. And most of all, we're committed to making sure the coverage sparks honest civic debate.

Bringing you cola for the people, PubliCola is named after Publius Valerius PubliCola, the alias for the authors of the Federalist Papers—the original bloggers.

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The first online-only news site in state history to get media credentials to cover the state capitol and Seattle city hall, PubliCola has been called a “must-read” by the Seattle Post Intelligencer and a hot “New Media Mover and Shaker” by Seattle Magazine—which also cited our own Erica C. Barnett as the city's No. 1 news nerd.

Elephant Missing in Olympia. This is Not a Metaphor

News   February 17, 2009 at 4:11 pm Josh Feit


This elephant missing poster has gone up around Olympia where the Democrats have a near super majority over the GOP. But this isn’t some sort of sly joke. It’s in earnest. A statue of an elephant was stolen from the GOP caucus room on the night of the Governor’s ball. (The Capitol becomes a drunken open house every four years after the governor is sworn in.)

The elephant  was a gift to the Republican caucus from then-Senate Republican leader Jeanette Hayner (R-16, Walla Walla) back in the early 1990s.

A witness to the crime has visually ID’d the thief  for the GOP from a security tape, but  the thief (no one knows her name) hasn’t been found. The elephant—the Republicans just want the statue back—is still missing. 

Here’s a snippet of the security cam tape—PubliCola got its hands on the tape— where you can see the suspect slipping something that looks like an elephant under her sweater.