E. W. Scripps has announced that Friday will be the last day of publication for the Rocky Mountain News. This is a sad day for Denver and Colorado, and given the state's pivotal position in national politics, it's not too good for the country, either.
The Rocky always had longer articles, better coverage, and sharper commentary than its surviving rival, the Denver Post. But a tabloid format and a series of poor marketing and business decisions left it unable to compete in the shrinking market for dead-tree-based news.
The Rocky was also one of the main reasons that the more liberal Post didn't become the utterly irresponsible caricature of a newspaper that the Star-Tribune and the Los Angeles Times have turned into. With the Rocky now gone, there will be less pressure on the Post to be a responsible outlet, rather than a mouthpiece for the Democratic party and its affiliates.
In past times, the Post would have picked up the important features and much of the news staff of the Rocky. However, the Post is facing financial problems of its own, laying off some editorial and management staff, and it's unclear how long it will continue to function, even without direct competition.
It's tempting to say that bloggers and other alternative media can step into the breach, and it may well be that a number of the reporters from the Rocky will try to develop their own sites for a living. And indeed, I'm sure we'll be able to pick up some of the slack.
But there's nothing like being on payroll to have the time to write and develop sources and stories. The Denver Press Club still has a bias against those who don't have major media organizations behind them, which limits credentialing and access to information and newsmakers. There's no question this is a serious loss for the area.
UPDATE: The Post will be taking on some Rocky staff, after all.
Editor at Large
Comments Policy
RMN
February 26, 2009 - 15:29 ET by unitaryexecutiveI grew up, and still live in Denver and this is a sad day. Conservatives are losing great columnists like Mike Rosen with the discontinuance of the Rocky Mountain News.
It's too bad that they couldn't come up with a more sustainable business plan. Newspapers are going to have to come up with something or these incidents will become much more common (let us pray that the NYT is among the first to go down).
We have so many people who can't see a fat man standing beside a thin one without coming to the conclusion that the fat man got that way by taking advantage of the thin one.
-Ronald Reagan
Aren't these two papers
February 26, 2009 - 17:21 ET by Odins UnderlingAren't these two papers owned by the same Joe Schmoe? That's what I've heard. As far as the newspapers go, I could care less although I will now have to find an alternative to wrapping up my fish.
The dead tree business
February 26, 2009 - 15:37 ET by MidAmericaThe dead tree business is dying no matter what happens. There's too much overhead for it to survive. The bias prone papers are only hastening their eventual demise by cutting their potential audience in half.
Who cares. It's a newspaper
February 26, 2009 - 16:24 ET by ArchConservativeWho cares. It's a newspaper and like all newspapers, its content is out of date before it hits your doorstoop. It's a medium whose time has come and gone. I hope the NYT, LAT, Washington Post, and others follow suit and fold up. I would love to see a day that I don't have to walk by a kiosk and see Obama's smug face looking out from rows of newspapers.
It's the market place at work. If nobody wants your rag, no one will buy it. Let it die.
You support the troops by supporting the mission! If you don't support the mission, have the guts to say you don't support the troops.
Obama: Not my President. Ever.
Content, content, content
February 26, 2009 - 22:00 ET by UnsaneThe content may be out of dat before it hits your doorstop, but there can be a place for newspapers in the media today. It can be a great source of in depth analysis and local information.
See, contrary to what other posters say here, it isn't the Internet that is bringing down newspapers. Newspapers are bringing down newspapers with their lousy, crappy content. I once read the San Antonio Express-News quite frequently, and for awhile, after the atrocious Light folded, it was a good newspaper. But its quality has collapsed, and it's not even worth using for bird cage liner anymore.
"CONSUMED DEMOCRACY RETURNS A SOCIALIST REGIME" - Slayer, "Fictional Reality", from Divine Intervention (1994)
Unsane... We have a paper
February 26, 2009 - 22:14 ET by Clear thinkerUnsane...
We have a paper that covers just our very rural county. It's a real piece of crap, but the guy that owns it has it figured out. His sales do nothing but increase from one week to the next. Here's how he makes gobs of money with a newspaper...
He almost never covers politics. He gives local election results and that's it. Lot's of community announcements and High School sports scores, recipes, etc, etc. The funny part is.... his paper has many more lines of paid advertisisng space than anything else. He has most of the business's in the county coming to him, so he only has a part-time sales staff of one guy. He netted, not grossed, netted, over $200,000 grand last year.
Moral of the story for newspapers (in my area)... IGNORE POLITICS!
Mandatory Viewing For Lefty’s
Nail, meet hammer
February 26, 2009 - 22:59 ET by UnsaneExcellent point!
I just wanted to add that the Express Snooze of yesteryear was good for two things: a source of information for current and upcoming road construction projects, and local events.
After a few years, beyond that it was simply ughhhhhhh...
"CONSUMED DEMOCRACY RETURNS A SOCIALIST REGIME" - Slayer, "Fictional Reality", from Divine Intervention (1994)
Unsane
February 26, 2009 - 23:02 ET by RESTLESS 1When they fired Leo Garza was the last straw for me. I let me subscription lapse and refuse to even give their sales people one word when they call. I miss ole Nacho.
"This
liberal would be all about socialize -- uh, uh, would be about
basically taking over and the government running all of your companies."-Maxine Waters 2008
California redux
February 26, 2009 - 16:48 ET by okiehawk44Colorado is another of those western states where refugees fleeing California's excesses go and end up bringing the very same failed programs to their new state.
California has enough self-made problems to bankrupt itself and those around it too.
Colorado used to be a great state to live in like Arizona, Montana, Oregon and Nevada -- Oh yeah, forgot New Mexico too, before Californians flooded 'em and made New Mexicans wish for the return of Texans.
Carpetbaggers and their habits
February 26, 2009 - 19:38 ET by zachlindYou are so right. The migration out of California has long been a problem for states close by, especially when the people doing the moving bring their socialist voting habits with them. We have a similar problem here in Texas. People move here for the climate, low taxes and the vast empty spaces. Before you know it those carpetbaggers are voting for Democrats, free lunches and environment restrictions on our cattle. Some in the national media constantly refer to Texas as having a problem along the Rio Grande. I’ve often wondered if the problem isn’t greater along the Red River. Too many Yankee Democrats.
It just goes to show.....
February 26, 2009 - 21:12 ET by shawn228It is not just the liberal print that is in trouble. I hear over and over, how the New York Times and other liberal Newspapers are failing because of their bias reporting.
That might be true in some cases, but by and large it is the internet, that people are losing interest newspapers, why look at yesterdays news when you can have todays news within seconds?
He had my vote
Scripps, Hearst, Gannett,
February 26, 2009 - 21:16 ET by ConservativeRexScripps, Hearst, Gannett, McClatchy...all of them prefer to cut their noses off to spite their faces. Good. They deserve to go. They are no better than any other failed business. A strong case could be made that they in fact are much more dangerous than say, the Nuclear Power business. They poison peoples minds, which is much more difficult to remediate.
All they have ever had to do was to include an opposing view every once in a while. To report what actually happened, do not editorialize every single news item with a liberal slant.
Their ideology prevented them from seeing anything other than in a liberal light. Good. Adios print media, you will not be lamented by the backbone of our country. You deserted us, not we you.
The print media's day of
February 26, 2009 - 21:17 ET byThe print media's day of reconing has come. Out with the old and in the new tecnology. Figures Denver leads the way in going green. Save a tree, get your news from the internet.
Which Denver is this?
February 26, 2009 - 23:02 ET by UnsaneFigures Denver leads the way in going green. You clearly have never lived in Denver. It is the only city in the world where I have seen snow turn black (which makes me wonder about Beijing, which is FAR worse).
The Internet isn't much better. There IS room for newspapers, but it is all about content, content, and more content. If they stop publishing crappy content, they'd be alright. But since they don't
"CONSUMED DEMOCRACY RETURNS A SOCIALIST REGIME" - Slayer, "Fictional Reality", from Divine Intervention (1994)
This is a sad day, indeed.
February 26, 2009 - 21:39 ET by CKA in Red State USAYears ago, I used to live in Ft. Collins.
The RMN was ALWAYS the better of the two papers from Denver.
Big loss for the Rocky Mountain region and, generally, conservatives and non-Democrats/liberals/leftists in America.
The RMN was simply less
February 27, 2009 - 13:01 ET by wiwfThe RMN was simply less evil/liberal than the Post. I won't care one bit when they both go under. Would have preferred the Post went though of course.
The Rocky Mountain Collegian: Illustrating Idiocy
Ad revenue
February 27, 2009 - 19:46 ET by capitolguyUltimately, it was ad revenue probably had a lot to to with the decline of the RMN. While it sounds like RMN was a decent paper, other daily papers are fading quickly. The San Francisco Chronicle announced 2 days ago that if it can't find a buyer, it will simply close up. Could we ask for a better fate for the hometown newspaper of Nancy Pelosi? Here in Sacramento, our daily Bee is hanging on by a thread. While it is not quite as liberal as the Chronicle, it is a close second and if it also goes under, it will not be missed.