The fate of the Rocky Mountain News arrived today. Starting Saturday, Denver will be a one-newspaper town.
The Rocky Mountain News publishes its last paper tomorrow.
Rich Boehne, chief executive officer of Scripps, broke the news to the Rocky staff at noon today, ending nearly three months of speculation over the paper's future. He called the paper a victim of a terrible economy and an upheaval in the newspaper industry.
"Denver can't support two newspapers anymore," Boehne told staffers, some of whom cried at the news.
This is not a surprising turn of events. The death of the Rocky Mountain News was expected for months. However, the immediacy of the closing is akin to a death in the family. It is sad to see the Rocky Mountain News go after nearly 150 years of publication.
Of course, reverting to a one-newspaper town now gives the Denver Post a monopoly. Without the Rocky to keep the Post semi-honest, the Post will have even more opportunities to embarrass itself. However, in this environment, the Post will have to move to attract Rocky subscribers or risk going out of business as well.
We in the "new media" can attempt to keep the Post honest. However, there is no substitute for a reporter who follows stories full-time (as opposed to bloggers who have a day job). Joshua Sharf at View From a Height made some similar comments on this matter.
And, to the soon-to-be former Rocky employees, I wish you good luck in your future endeavors.
by Civil Sense
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