So Long Rocky
Posted by sebersole on February 26, 2009
After 150 years of publishing, and four Pulitzer Prizes, the Rocky Moutain News will publish its last paper tomorrow. Denver will become a one-newspaper-town, much like the rest of the nation, after the Rocky closes its doors. While the news of the Rocky’s demise was sudden, it was not surprising. The current economic free-fall has hammered the newspaper business, an industry that was already in severe trouble. The Rocky lost $16 million last year bringing its debt to $130 million. Nearly all advertising is down, with classified ads–an important revenue stream for newspapers–continuing to feel the negative effect of online alternatives such as Craig’s List. It’s a tough time to be in the newspaper business, and even worse for the 200 or so Rocky Mountain News staff who are now without employment.
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Tim Gonzales said
This is a great example of the change in media today. Consumers are now becoming less independent on newspaper print and are relying on electronic media like the news on television or on the internet. It is a combination of a loss of interest in the articles and the changing of today’s society. Many newspapers are struggling to stay up and running and I predict that soon all newspapers will become a thing of the past.
Bilal Carter said
Bye, bye Rocky Mountain News. I never was a big fan of their newspapers but it still saddens me to hear that they have fell under the current weight of the economy. Now that they are gone Denver has became a one paper town, which means the information we obtain from the daily papers are strictly bias and we won’t have another major paper to compete and publish one. The decline of the news paper is a scare for me because my major is in fact journalism and I fear that I won’t be able to solidify a job in the future. I wonder why the government didn’t bail them out of the bankrupt slum like they did GMC and Chrysler. The world is slowly drifting from the morning breakfast with a nice paper to read to a more fast pace digital form of news that has dominated.
Paul Cardona said
This is a question that does ask many more questions than actually seen. Saying that Denver is one if the only cities to have two working news papers is a very respectable honor to have but having the Rocky Mountain News go for sale is a giant loss to the cities news capabilities. But this shows what the lack of peoples involvement on mass medias and thier involvement in news.Although we still have the Denver Post the thought of having the Rocky Mountain News being a paper of the past the people of Denver is a highly tragic event. But overall this is a great question.
jordan surratt said
Its a hard subject to comment on because you almost wonder why they didnt see this coming and make some changes or have a backup plan. But this should have not occured so drastically. you would think that someone would attempt to find other ways to keep the business running whether online or on the radio. So only time will tell as far as what will be the alternative to newspapers?