Rocky down for the count

Posted at 12:16 PM on February 27, 2009 by Than Tibbetts (6 Comments)
Filed under: Economy, Media

It was shocking to read of the sudden closure of the Rocky Mountain News. The writing, presumably, was on the wall, but to come to work to find out that the institution you work for — and the Rocky was an institution (the paper was shuttered 55 days before its 150th birthday) — will cease to exist tomorrow.

The paper's staff put together a documentary of sorts that seems to be directed more to the paper's owner, The E.W. Scripps Co., than to its Colorado audience.

Twin Cities readers and writers might see the words of Scripps President and CEO Rich Boehne as an omen: "Denver can't support two newspapers any longer."

Update: I left this in a comment but it seems worthy of noting in the entry itself.

Apparently the Rocky folks wanted -- and tried -- to continue on as an online-only 'paper' but the company's joint operating agreement with the Denver Post wouldn't allow it.

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Comments (6)

What's a newspaper?

Posted by Derek Schille | February 27, 2009 1:02 PM

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It seems like they're doing a lot of things right - love(d) their Web site. I would love to see their financial statements. What would stop some of those workers from starting their own reincarnation of the paper sans paper initially? Or maybe I'm the only one who thinks sustainable journalism is actually possible.

Posted by Drew Geraets | February 27, 2009 1:29 PM

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Apparently the Rocky folks wanted -- and tried -- to continue on as an online-only 'paper' but the company's joint operating agreement with the Denver Post wouldn't allow it.

Posted by Than Tibbetts | February 27, 2009 1:48 PM

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From what I've heard, the next newspapers likely to end up on the scrap pile are the San Fran Chronicle and San Jose Mercury News.

Posted by Bob | February 27, 2009 4:17 PM

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The founders were concerned about the ability of the people to read the news. I think they even subsidized newsprint. I would like to know the information I receive is vetted by someone. The attacks on the Star Tribune and other major papers seems almost conspiratorial.

Posted by Tim | February 27, 2009 6:44 PM

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What attacks are you talking about, Tim?

The demise of major newspapers results from a cascade of causes: poor investment decisions, the decline of advertising, the rise of the Internet, the ease of finding information elsewhere - but there is another cause, the alienation of the majority of readers

Why would a conservative purchase a copy of the StarTribune when they can get information without in-your-face bias elsewhere?

If the StarTribune, or Public Broadcasting for that matter, had tried to represent demographic other than progressive professionals and academics, they may have enjoyed a stronger base.

The old media survived on limited choices, but choices are no longer limited.

Posted by GregS | February 28, 2009 8:16 AM

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