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.

Take a Sip

News   March 27, 2009 at 4:30 pm Josh Feit

MONDAY

The week started out on Monday monrning (as in 1 am) with a report from the SXSW music festival in Austin,TX.

Here in Seattle: We hear Mike McGinn may be running for Mayor and that there’s devastating polling on Mayor Nickels. (We’re still trying to get our hands on that.)

And ObamaNerd was a little devastated himself by Obama’s Leno gaffe. 

There was also news about PubliCola: We became the first online-only publication to get press credentials to cover the legislature in Olympia. High on this news, we issued quite a statement.

TechNerd was on vacation. His Monday column will return in a few weeks. In the meantime, you can catch up on all his theories here.

TUESDAY 

FoodNerd was not on vacation. Or, she was. But she filed this report from her couch anyway.

Sierra Club leader Mike McGinn formally announces he’s running for Mayor. We’re so excited that someone is actually running against Mayor Nickels we write two reports: This one and this one. 

WEDNESDAY

The latest state budget casualty, and irony? Thanks to the recession, people are driving less and taking mass transit more. This phenomenon is sapping gas tax revenues. So, the Senate has to make cuts. What do they decide to cut? Mass transit. 

No TechNerd this week? It’s cool. BookNerd makes her PubliCola debut.

THURSDAY

Mayor Nickels has another opponent.

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Former Sonic, James Donaldson. 

Here’s the best PubliCola post ever. Thank you ObamaNerd. 

And here’s the best deal environmentalists are going to get in Olympia on I-937 this year. 

The campaign for Mayor actually begins: Mike McGinn goes after Nickels’ environmental record.

And MusicNerd reports:

Eventually, I convinced her to let me put on a mix CD and Mother Mother’s “Dirty Town” came on. She gave me an awkward look.

“Do you think we could play that song again?” she asked.

FRIDAY

Angry talk in Olympia.

Smart talk in D.C. (Thanks to Sen. Cantwell.)

And FilmNerd talk about: “spiraling away into the night sky as the crickets’ voices swell.”

And even more poetic, this guy in his room with his guitar sings, ”Don’t let the milk float ride your mind.” 

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ao1WVpWFTtg[/youtube]