Ex-Seattle P-I reporters launch online paper!

Right now, they're all volunteers. Make that volunteers with a mission. A group of former Seattle Post-Intelligencer reporters launched the online-only Seattle Post Globe on Tuesday. Billing itself as "Seattle News -Version 2.0," the newspaper hopes to mimick a similar effort by former Rocky Mountain News reporters who launched InDenverTimes following their paper's demise.

It's a well-known fact that when the Seattle Post-Intelligencer announced plans to go online only last month, the newspaper had a rough time convincing its existing reporters to accept new job offers for the Web venture. It's also a well-known fact that newspaper reporters barely make any money, so one can only wonder how much current Seattle P-I employees are making.

The reporters behind the Seattle Post Globe seem less concerned with money and more focused on "letting you know what's really going on in this city," according to a column by Kery Murakami. If the Seattle Post Globe is to succeed, then it will need donations and promotions that can attract readers. A quick visit to the newspaper's Web site reveals the kind of content missing in many newspapers -- content that holds people accountable and provides enough depth for readers to walk away with new knowledge.

Might San Francisco Chronicle employees be the next to jump ship and form an online-only paper? We might have the answer to that question sooner rather than later. Stay tuned.