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.

Extra Fizz: #Washooting

News   November 30, 2009 at 10:21 am Erica C. Barnett

That’s the hashtag for all Twitter coverage of the Clemmons manhunt, with updates every few seconds (including from SeattleCrime.com). John Cook at the Puget Sound Business Journal calls the shooting story “a watershed moment for Twitter.”

Also, PubliCola’s Teodora Popescu is monitoring police scanner traffic and posting updates @PubliColaNews.




  • Tyler

    Hmmm… nope. Twitter has not played any significant role in this. Some dude is twittering that he “can’t see much”? Give me a fucking break.

  • Fat-tailed

    i thought the Bombay shootings were twitter’s watershed moment. Oh, wait, it was Michael Jackson’s death that was the watershed. Maybe Iran’s massive demonstrations shed the water?

    So many watershed moments — how to possibly keep track?

  • Tyler

    Hmmm… nope. Twitter has not played any significant role in this. Some dude is twittering that he “can’t see much”? Give me a fucking break.

  • Fat-tailed

    i thought the Bombay shootings were twitter’s watershed moment. Oh, wait, it was Michael Jackson’s death that was the watershed. Maybe Iran’s massive demonstrations shed the water?

    So many watershed moments — how to possibly keep track?

  • Timothy

    @2…Twitter might be a good way to keep track.

  • Timothy

    @2…Twitter might be a good way to keep track.

  • Timothy

    I should say…I’ve been on the fence about jumping into Twitter, and overnight, I began following several twitter feeds. So, for me personally? This does feel like a watershed moment.

  • Timothy

    I should say…I’ve been on the fence about jumping into Twitter, and overnight, I began following several twitter feeds. So, for me personally? This does feel like a watershed moment.

  • http://peacetreefarm.org N in Seattle

    Twitter has been shedding water, it seems, for quite some time.

  • http://peacetreefarm.org N in Seattle

    Twitter has been shedding water, it seems, for quite some time.

  • Kathryn

    The real communication inside the neighborhood is on centraldistrictnews.com While there sure were links to the twitterers, give some props to the neighborhood blogs for being on top of stuff.

    I ‘get’ that you want to ‘respect’ ‘real’ news. Frankly, a few of them twitterers, like McNerthney, got plain old stupid. Must have been the lack of sleep.

  • Kathryn

    The real communication inside the neighborhood is on centraldistrictnews.com While there sure were links to the twitterers, give some props to the neighborhood blogs for being on top of stuff.

    I ‘get’ that you want to ‘respect’ ‘real’ news. Frankly, a few of them twitterers, like McNerthney, got plain old stupid. Must have been the lack of sleep.