From: the.wise.one@abel.co.uk   
      
   Rocky Mountain News to close after 150 years   
      
   (Agencies)   
   Updated: 2009-02-27 11:25   
      
      
   The Rocky Mountain News, Colorado's oldest newspaper and a Denver   
   fixture since 1859, will publish its last edition Friday.   
      
   Owner E.W. Scripps Co. said Thursday the newspaper lost $16 million last   
   year and the company was unable to find a buyer.   
      
   "Today the Rocky Mountain News, long the leading voice in Denver,   
   becomes a victim of changing times in our industry and huge economic   
   challenges," Scripps CEO Rich Boehne said.   
      
   The News is the latest — and largest — newspaper to fail amid a   
   recession that has been especially brutal for the industry. Four owners   
   of 33 US daily newspapers have sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection   
   in the past 2 1/2 months. A number of other newspapers are up for sale.   
      
   "People are in grief, and they're very, very upset trying to process all   
   the emotions that go with it and trying to recognize that we will be   
   putting out our final edition tomorrow," said News publisher John Temple.   
      
   But that edition, he declared, is "going to be spectacular." Friday's   
   newspaper will include a 52-page commemorative section, with a print run   
   of about 350,000 copies. The News had a daily circulation of 210,000 and   
   457,000 on Saturdays.   
      
   "It's very rare that you get to play the music at your own funeral, so   
   you want to make sure you do it well," Temple said.   
      
   Managing Editor Deborah Goeken said the special section will highlight   
   some of the Rocky's best work, including Pulitzer Prize-winning stories   
   and photos.   
      
   Scripps' Boehne said the News' 230 editorial employees would be paid   
   through April 28. The rival Denver Post said it will hire 10 News   
   staffers, including five columnists, four reporters and the editorial   
   page editor.   
      
   One of those reporters, Lynn Bartels, said she would miss sitting beside   
   her News colleagues. "The Rocky is the most amazing family," she said.   
      
   Bartels held a box of tissues over her head and called out, "This is for   
   everybody."   
      
   Dennis Schroeder, a News photographer for 25 years, said some of his   
   colleagues were angry but others were relieved that a decision was made   
   after weeks of uncertainty.   
      
   "It's hard losing the best job in the world," he said.   
      
   Employees gathered outside the newsroom to open a 1985 time capsule cut   
   out of a wall. It contained copies of the Rocky and Post, a book of   
   employee signatures, a map of Denver and books from Rocky cartoonist Ed   
   Stein and the late columnist Gene Amole. The capsule read: "To be opened   
   in April 2059 on RMN's 200th anniversary."   
      
   Scripps announced on Dec. 4 it would try to sell the newspaper. Only one   
   potential buyer came forward, "and that party was unable to present a   
   viable plan," the company said.   
      
   "Good grief — that's a piece of heritage we're losing," said Diane   
   Scott, 56, of suburban Englewood.   
      
   Mike Hankinson, 25, of Denver blamed the format. "It's the paper. People   
   go online now," he said.   
      
   Scripps has owned the News since 1926. The newspaper will close just two   
   months short of its 150th anniversary.   
      
   Since its first edition on April 23, 1859, the News has covered the   
   Civil War, Colorado statehood, the Ludlow Massacre, the Columbine High   
   School shootings and the Oklahoma City bombing trial. It survived a   
   devastating flood in 1864 and competition from as many as five   
   newspapers at a time.   
      
   A circulation war with The Post in the 1980s and 1990s proved costly,   
   and in 2000 the rivals announced they would pool their business   
   operations in a joint operating agreement between Scripps and The Post's   
   owner, MediaNews Group Inc. The deal took effect in 2001.   
      
   "The Rocky will forever be remembered for its vital role in the city's   
   history and the city's success," said William Dean Singleton, chairman   
   and publisher of The Post and CEO of MediaNews. "Although we competed   
   intensely, the talented staff of the Rocky earned our respect with each   
   morning's edition."   
      
   Singleton, who is chairman of the board of The Associated Press, has   
   said Denver could support only one newspaper. "I'm not just confident   
   that we'll survive. We will survive," he insisted Thursday.   
      
   MediaNews said starting Saturday, Rocky Mountain News subscribers will   
   get The Post for the length of their subscriptions, but they can cancel   
   if they want. Singleton said only about 14,000 subscribers get both   
   newspapers.   
      
   The Post will also return to seven-day publication starting Saturday.   
   Under the JOA, The Post published Sunday through Friday and the News   
   published Monday through Saturday.   
      
   Scripps said it has been working with MediaNews on "a plan to unwind the   
   partnership" since mid-January, the deadline for offers.   
      
   The future of the Denver Newspaper Agency, the entity that handles the   
   two newspapers' business operations, was unclear. The agency is a 50-50   
   partnership of the News and The Post. It employs about 1,800 people.   
      
   Scripps and MediaNews Group also are partners in Prairie Mountain   
   Publishing, which publishes the Camera and Colorado Daily in Boulder,   
   the Broomfield Enterprise and other Colorado newspapers. Scripps said it   
   would transfer its 50 percent interest in Prairie Mountain to MediaNews   
   later this year.   
      
   Scripps said it will retain ownership of, and still offer to sell, the   
   Rocky Mountain News name and the newspaper's archives and Web site.   
      
   Ed Atorino, a newspaper industry analyst at The Benchmark Co., said that   
   indicates the News could become an online-only venture at some point.   
      
   "Online newspapers seem to be doing pretty well," he said. "It's a very   
   low-cost business."   
      
   Financial problems are widespread in the newspaper industry as readers   
   have gravitated toward the Internet and advertisers have followed them.   
   The housing slump also has crimped real estate ad sales, and the   
   recession has eliminated much demand for employment and automotive   
   classified ads.   
      
   The publisher of the New Haven (Conn.) Register and the owners of The   
   Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News filed separate   
   bankruptcy cases last weekend. Tribune Co., whose stable includes the   
   Los Angeles Times and the Chicago Tribune, filed for bankruptcy   
   protection in December. The owners of the Minneapolis Star Tribune filed   
   in January.   
      
   Hearst Corp. said this week it will close or sell the San Francisco   
   Chronicle if it can't slash expenses, and the company has laid out plans   
   to close the Seattle Post-Intelligencer if a buyer isn't found before April.   
      
   Gannett Co. is looking for a buyer for the Tucson Citizen in Arizona.   
      
      
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