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.

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.

The Spirit of Community

Last week I wrote about a stand-off between the Northwest Film Forum and SIFF Cinema: In order to spark a debate about exhibition and medium, NWFF had scheduled a 35mm film screening of Planet of the Apes on the same date and at the same time (1/28, 7pm) as SIFF’s BluRay screening of the sci-fi classic.

Now, “in the spirit of community,” says NWFF Director Adam Sekuler, the NWFF screening has been canceled.  Instead of the panel discussion originally scheduled to follow, the panelists will write an essay for Hot Splice, the NWFF’s blog.

Still from Eat For This is My Body

In place of the contentious Apes screening, NWFF will use the slot for a very worthy cause:  A screening to benefit earthquake relief efforts in Haiti.  They’ll show Eat For This is My Body (Michelange Quay, France/Haiti, 2007), which I saw and loved at SIFF 2008.  The darkly surreal film glides through troubling explorations of race and class, leaving a trail of memorable images in its wake.

Check it out this Thursday at 7pM at NWFF, and don’t forget to watch their blog for further discussion on film medium.