The blog "Seattlish" is closing up shop. For four years, the website covered politics in Washington state, with a special emphasis on Seattle city government.
They've promised to continue tweeting from their @seattlish handle. But the blog's end -- at the start of what's shaping up to be a busy year for Seattle municipal politics -- means the end of regular updates from the self described "trio of mouthy broads," who were open about their opinions, often funny and frequently unsparing.
They've written headlines like "ST3 is a social and climate justice issue, you jerks." They've been in twitter fights with state representatives. And they've, uh, decorated the state attorney general.
Hanna Brooks Olsen, Alex Hudson, and Sarah Anne Lloyd sat down with KNKX to talk about the end of Seattlish, and what they hope their effort accomplished.
Interview Highlights
On why they're calling it quits: "In a race where there’s half a dozen people running for one City Council seat, there’s now a different person tossing in their hat for mayor every day — there’s so much to keep up with that I feel like regardless of what we did we were going to be giving something else short shrift. I didn’t feel like it was fair for us to limp along to keep up with it, as opposed to letting others who have the resources and the means take [coverage] over and do a great job with it." -- Hanna Brooks Olsen
On how civics and politics can seem boring: "It’s not dull and it’s not boring at all. We wanted to give it sass. The words we used a lot was cute and fun and drinky, gossipy to the maximum. I think we showed people that you don’t have to have some really elaborate, boring, long academic take on things. You can just have a fun opinion that you share with people as part of being a fun and whole person." -- Alex Hudson
On the tone of Seattlish, and whether other media should follow suit: "This is the way that’s most natural and accurate to us, and it apparently resonated with people. Different styles of reporting resonate with different crowds. I think there’s space for all of it. That’s what The Stranger was to me, when I was a kid. Would I be as interested in politics now if The Stranger didn’t have a jokey, sweary tone that also talked about how hot politicians were? Probably not." -- Sarah Anne Lloyd
