Local television news crews turned out this past Thursday night, January 29, to cover a candlelight procession to support the continued existence of the Rocky Mountain News, the oldest daily newspaper in Colorado. The irony and the tragedy of the situation struck me deeply.
The "Rocky" was put up for sale almost two months ago on December 4, 2008, but no buyer has been found willing to keep the newspaper alive and take over it's $11 to 15 million in debt. Unless the Rocky finds a new owner soon, the paper will be shut down.
At first, many of us here in Denver thought that Examiner.com owner Phil Anschutz would step up as the Rocky's buyer. However, his closure this past week of the Baltimore Examiner shows that he sees the writing on the wall for traditional print newspapers.
The future of written journalism primarily is electronic, not print, and the medium for survival is the Internet — converged with television and radio.
So, the call went out last week for all local journalists and all concerned citizens around town to gather on Thursday night to carry 150 candles, one for each year of the Rocky's existence, in a vigil walk from the Denver Press Club to the nearby downtown building of the Denver Newspaper Agency.
The Denver Newspaper Agency was formed in 2000 under a joint operating agreement (JOA) with the Rocky Mountain News and The Denver Post. The goal was to preserve both of Denver's daily newspapers by cutting costs through sharing a single building for separate editorial staffs while uniting their operations for advertising and printing.
KCNC-TV4 reporter Rick Sallinger covering
the Jan. 29 candlelight vigil in support of the
Rocky Mountain News (Source: KCNC)
Meanwhile, the Rocky chose to further reduce its costs by eliminating statewide distribution and concentrating upon the metro Denver area, leaving the rest of Colorado to The Post.
The effort bought time for the Rocky, but when the economy nosedived late last year, the newspaper's owner since 1926, E.W. Scripps, decided to stop pouring good money after bad. Scripps announced in early December that the Rocky Mountain News is for sale.
And so it came to pass last Thursday night that Denver's oldest television station, KCNC-TV4 (CBS) sent its most seasoned reporter, Rick Sallinger, to cover the candlelight procession by those who still hope a buyer for the Rocky will be found.
If you happen to have any money left after the market crash, if you care enough to help Denver remain a two-newspaper town (and if you want to help save the jobs of my friends), please call the offices of the Rocky Mountain News at 303-954-5000. Ask for publisher, president and editor John Temple.
Tell him I sent you.
Meanwhile, if you want to see Rick Sallinger's news report, click here. Sallinger used his story on the Rocky as a "news hook" to talk about emergence of Examiner.com. He shows a rare glimpse inside of our Denver editorial offices along with the faces of our chief executive and the content managers who support us national and local examiners. Also view a slideshow of the candlelight vigil walk.
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