If this website had been up for the last 18 years, it would have said, “No.” As of today, it has a different message.
The shutdown of the federal government will be unfortunate for a lot of people, but for journalists, it’s also a chance to get people’s attention. For example, check out The Boston Globe’s print strategy for today: Over at Quartz, Zach Seward had a different idea involving a blaring headline. In February 2011, he registered the site IsTheGovernmentShutDown.com in advance of a possible, but ultimately avoided, federal closure. He writes in an email:
