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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.

PubliCola Comment of the Day Goes To…

News   August 31, 2009 at 5:53 pm Josh Feit

Reader Adam Parast gets the “Comment of the Day” for his measured thoughts on our hyper enthusiastic post about Green Metropolis, a new book on the environmental virtues of cities.

2. Adam Parast says:

I have always thought that cities are the solutions to our environmental challenges. But then again I’m only 24 and my views of what is environmentally good and bad was not formed by the back to the land movement. Every generation has a set of assumptions that are a reflection of events during its 20’s.

08/31/2009 AT 1:47PM


  • Sarah

    Generations do not always recognize that they are generations and thus don’t think or behave as such. Most of us simply grow up and older without feeling part of a cohort; that trend is relatively recent and it’s certainly more likely if you live in a neighborhood where most people are around your age, like Capitol Hill in Seattle. Attitudes and opinions change as you (hopefully) mature. Your 20s are not a sacred time when the trajectory of your intellectual life is set. But it may take getting into your 30s to realize that.

  • Sarah

    Generations do not always recognize that they are generations and thus don’t think or behave as such. Most of us simply grow up and older without feeling part of a cohort; that trend is relatively recent and it’s certainly more likely if you live in a neighborhood where most people are around your age, like Capitol Hill in Seattle. Attitudes and opinions change as you (hopefully) mature. Your 20s are not a sacred time when the trajectory of your intellectual life is set. But it may take getting into your 30s to realize that.

  • Trevor

    The back to the land movement contributed to a new wave in organic farming, but it was only a small part of the environmental movement of the 1970s. Most youth of that generation did not go “back to the land.” And most environmental legislation did not focus exclusively on wilderness protection.

    Clean Water Act: partly a response to the Cuyahoga river catching fire and burning down a bridge in rural… Cleveland.

    Clean Air Act: regulated urban smog and industrial emissions in cities, not just coal fire plants in the countryside.

    Superfund: partly a response to toxic waste in Love Canal, NY– a working class suburb whose most prominent activists were housewives.

    Etc…

  • Kathryn

    Umm, many of us did not go back to the land. Might be the 70s were ‘post’ the back to the land/commune thing. Some of my friends started what are now major environmental groups, others are still ‘fighting the power’. many of us sought healthy cities or towns that:
    - Mean an escape from howling ex-burbia
    - Have a good level of economic health for ALL income levels
    - Are not ‘one industry’ towns where the culture is dominated by one type of work or one age group
    - Provide cultural benefits
    - Where people at least seem to be concerned about the environment, does not depend on nukes
    - Do not require that one owns a car, or needs to commute for hours to work
    - For me personally, I need to be within a few hours of an ocean

    I often wonder if I should have chosen Portland…

  • Kathryn

    Umm, many of us did not go back to the land. Might be the 70s were ‘post’ the back to the land/commune thing. Some of my friends started what are now major environmental groups, others are still ‘fighting the power’. many of us sought healthy cities or towns that:
    - Mean an escape from howling ex-burbia
    - Have a good level of economic health for ALL income levels
    - Are not ‘one industry’ towns where the culture is dominated by one type of work or one age group
    - Provide cultural benefits
    - Where people at least seem to be concerned about the environment, does not depend on nukes
    - Do not require that one owns a car, or needs to commute for hours to work
    - For me personally, I need to be within a few hours of an ocean

    I often wonder if I should have chosen Portland…

  • Trevor

    The back to the land movement contributed to a new wave in organic farming, but it was only a small part of the environmental movement of the 1970s. Most youth of that generation did not go “back to the land.” And most environmental legislation did not focus exclusively on wilderness protection.

    Clean Water Act: partly a response to the Cuyahoga river catching fire and burning down a bridge in rural… Cleveland.

    Clean Air Act: regulated urban smog and industrial emissions in cities, not just coal fire plants in the countryside.

    Superfund: partly a response to toxic waste in Love Canal, NY– a working class suburb whose most prominent activists were housewives.

    Etc…