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.

Correction: McGinn Irascible, Not “Hot Headed”

City Hall   May 18, 2010 at 1:08 pm Josh Feit

Erica just got back from City Hall, where Mayor Mike McGinn was holding a media availability to announce a new program that will team up police and mental health providers.

Erica will have more on her swing through City Hall—there was also an El Centro de la Raza press conference about the April 10 SPD beating of (wrong-place-wrong-time) an innocent Latino man.

But Erica also arrived back at the office with this anecdote. McGinn was upset that Erica had called him “hot-headed” (which she did yesterday).

Erica laughed about how all politicians are thin-skinned and told him how former King County Council Member Dwight Pelz (now the Chair of the Washington State Democratic Party) wouldn’t talk to her for months because she had once written that he was “irascible.”

McGinn loved that, and said he would love to be called irascible (which means someone who has a hot temper and is easily provoked to anger.)

And never mind “hot-head.” Outside city hall, where demonstrators had gathered today to protest the city council resolution to boycott Arizona, posters ID’d the mayor as a “Pot Head.”




  • http://spifflines.blogspot.com/ John Bailo

    You can take the McGinn out of Long Island…but you can't take the Long Island out of McGinn. The short-tempered ex-New Yorker was bound to start exploding at some point as his veneer of beard and wily folk wisdom are quickly burned away by pressing local issues!

  • Random Engineer

    How about just “incapable”? I mean, who cares if he loses his temper or what we call that? What is significant is that he's successful only in opposing things, and doesn't seem to be on a track to accomplish much at all.

  • Josh Feit

    The original point of Erica's “hot headed” comment spoke directly to your criticism. She was reporting on Seattle City Council Member Mike O'Brien, who shares McGinn's concerns about the tunnel, but who has a better way of presenting his concerns.

    So, McGinn's temperament is relevant in some ways.

  • Edog

    Its a proud day for Seattle that we have a mayor so willing to roll up his sleves and get down in the details of the important issues of the day – Irascible v. Hot Headed.. ah who am I kidding in the end its the same old McAscihole!

  • Josh Feit

    Oh stop. We highlighted it for fun. Blame us, not McGinn.

  • Edog

    My comments were pure comedy genius and in the keeping with your fun!

  • http://www.joeszilagyi.com/ Joe Szilagyi

    I've whined for years that I wanted politicians who were willing to call a spade a spade. The passive aggressive namby pamby nonsense of politics is a plague.

  • Count Kuki

    Are we missing Greg Nichoels yet?

  • dpsea

    I guess there's a fine line to walk here. We clamor for a politician to be personable and real – and say something specific and relevant. Then, often, we elect someone who is good at saying nothing at all (i.e. Sally Bagshaw). Point being, I find it ironic that the public is so harsh on McGinn for saying what he thinks, even if it means getting angry. Isn't that what we want from an elected official after all… someone who cares enough to get upset about the issues that matter? Now don't get me wrong, I'm not defending losing one's temper as a positive attribute. But its better than having a vapid robot in office (i.e. Joe Mallahan).

  • Count Kuki

    Personalities(irascible or vapid)aside, politics is the art of getting things done. Lets see if McGinn can walk as well as he can talk.

  • Good_Grief

    And of course, what McGinn wants, McGinn gets, at least when Publicola is involved.

  • So kind….

    No. But thanks for checking…..

  • blah blah blah _ 2

    He just prefers irascible because it rhymes with rascal. I mean, what does “hot-headed” rhyme with?

  • JimOR

    I disagree with your characterization of Bagshaw, dpsea. I've met her; I've worked with her; she's doing good work. Very thoughtful; very engaged.

  • Josh Feit

    You've got to be kidding. PubliCola is the publication that forced McGinn's top adviser to resign by breaking the story about his false credentials.

    We are consistently dogging this administration.

    I don't think McGinn wante to get rid of Bushnell. Why do think they hired him on the DL—another story we broke.

    Please pay closer attention to what we write about before making ill-informed assumptions.

  • Good_Grief

    Sorry Josh, no assumptions (ill-informed or otherwise) in my comment – your record of sucking up to the Mayor is too big to ignore. The Bushnell issue never came close to hurting the mayor, in part because blogs like yours never pressed the issue directly with him, in spite of your ballyhooed access. Give me a break indeed.