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.

On Other Blogs Today

Politics   September 8, 2010 at 2:44 pm Erica C. Barnett

1. Does the state’s 18th Amendment—mandating that gas taxes go only to highways—violate the federal Civil Rights Act? Great City argues that it does.

2. The Seattle P-I’s Joel Connelly says our initiative process allows big business (CostCo, the soda industry) to tailor the law to benefit them financially.

3. SeattleCrime.com reports that SPD has increased its presence at the corner of Rainier and Henderson in response to a recent rash of violence.

4. CityArts talks to the former music booker for the new downtown Hard Rock Cafe, who says the dining behemoth isn’t interested in promoting live music.

5. D.C. transit blog Greater Greater Washington makes the case that the D.C. Metro should switch to ORCA-style passes.

6. Never mind the New York Times, thanks to a  Think Progress Cola link—we’re one step removed from Rachel Maddow!


  • FeralGnome

    Um… I think this state’s 18th amendment sucks as much as anybody, but violating the Civil Rights Act? Great City’s argument is pretty weak sauce.

    Title III says that the government can’t deny access to common public facilities on the basis of race, ethnicity, religion, etc. But minorities’ lesser access to highways is a function of generally lower incomes, i.e., several steps removed from any government action. The same argument could be made regarding airports – the fact that only relatively well-off classes usually use them doesn’t mean they’re discriminatory and we can’t have them.

    I mean, if somebody else has an argument for this position I’d love to hear it. But probably Great City should stick to criticizing the 18th Amendment on its own merits.

  • april

    Isn’t amending the 18th largely symbolic at this point? The gas tax isn’t exactly bringing in what it used to.

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