Thoughts & Experiences from the Mile High City
Below is a video highlighting the staff and the closing of the Rocky Mountain News. It is an incredible video that looks at the human side of the closing. It really captures what it means to the staff and readers that this wonderful paper has closed.
This paper is going to be missed. You can tell by this video that they put everything into what they did and they produced incredible stuff.
It is best watched in HD on their site. Click through and take a look.
Ward Lucas has retired from 9 News in Denver after 33 years in broadcasting. He anchored his final episode Saturday evening.
I worked with him on a couple of stories and worked tirelessly to get the story right. He was fair and professional throughtout it all. He was one reporter who I enjoyed working with.
Good luck Ward. We will miss you but wish you well.
I am attending WordCamp Denver today and just had a good presentation by Gil Asakawa on media and publishing.
One of the questions that came up was should bloggers fill the niche left behind by the Rocky Mountain News? Well should they?
My thought is that bloggers and everyone else should be looking out for something going on and question it. We are a republic after all.
One thing that I have noticed in the media, specifically the Denver Post, is that the reporters are general issue reporters. The speciality or niche reporter no longer exists. Continue reading “Should bloggers pick up for the loss of the Rocky?”
I hate to say this, but good-bye Rocky Mountain News. I am going to miss you.
I moved to the Denver area in 1993 and except for a couple years when I moved away I have been reading the Rocky Mountain News. It was an excellent newspaper and I always compared other newspapers to it.
And none of them really measured up.
What did I like?
I guess it is just the sign of the times. Newspapers across this country are in serious trouble. The Albuquerque Tribune closed a year-ago (another Scripps newspaper), the Seattle P-I will cease publishing a printed copy later this year, the San Francisco Chronicle is in trouble, and the stock of the New York Times is now below what a Sunday edition costs.
In the paper that is surviving, the Denver Post, I have concerns about their viability over the near and long-term. They have been having financial problems and had to borrow money from the Denver Newspaper Agency. They also just had to re-negotiate contracts with their staff.
Plus I have seen an incredible decline in the quality of their writing. Like many other newspapers they have reduced the newsroom staff, getting rid of the specialty writers and leaning towards the general writer who can cover more topics. But this lead to a poorer quality of writing and coverage of the issues.
The Rocky has provided a great benefit to the Denver and Colorado area for 150 years and Denver has benefited from having a two newspaper town. Now that we are done to one, let’s hope that the Denver Post keeps up their part of raising issues and keeping everyone in check.
For now, I am going to continue my subscription and receive the Denver Post. But I am nervous and have a lot of doubt that they will continue into the future. If I don’t like it, I will drop my subscription.
I want to wish the staff of the Rocky well as they move on with their career. I have met and worked with some of them on a professional level and always enjoyed it. They were always fair and provided good coverage of the issues.
Good-bye Rocky. Me and many others are going to miss you.
In today’s paper, the Denver Post officially endorsed Barack Obama for President. Although it was not a unanimously choice by their editorial board.
Dan Haley, the editorial page editor for the Post, had a real good column explaining how they made the decision and deliberated about it over the last few weeks.
He explained that it wasn’t a Republican vs Democrat issue, but “The Post is an independent newspaper that doesn’t care what’s good for Republicans or what’s good for Democrats. We owe nothing to either party.”
He went on to explain that, “Endorsements are meant to stoke a public dialogue”.
According to Haley, he is not so sure of Obama will be able to “change” the country and also feels that the politics are further left than his own beliefs.
Just for the record, the Denver Post has now supported seven Democrats and seven Republicans.
But the Rocky Mountain News took a different approach. In a column in Saturday’s paper, publisher John Temple announced that the Rocky would not be endorsing anyone.
Instead the Rocky would be providing information on both candidates and have their readers foster their own opinions.
Temple rationalizes this by looking back at the state of newspapers. At one time, the newspaper was the only or the main way for the public to get their news. But now, there are many ways for the public to get information to help them make a decision.
But we live in a different world today, a world where citizens have a wealth of information available to them. If anything, what they need is a trusted source to help them evaluate that information and come to their own conclusions.
So we have two newspapers, two different paths trying to foster thought and debate over the issues so people can determine to vote for who they think is best.
My opinion? I think the Rocky Mountain News is taking the best approach. Because of the amount of information on the internet, we don’t need a newspaper’s editorial board to provide an opinion to generate thought.
What people are looking for is an unbiased source of information that we can then make up our mind on who we think is best to represent us or if we support or don’t support an issue.
I think Temple summarizes it best, “In the end we’ll leave it to you to come to your own conclusion, trusting that’s what you want and believing this newspaper’s editorial page can be most valuable to you if it helps you reach an informed decision, with an emphasis on informed. After all, ultimately that’s our job. It’s not to pick presidents, senators or representatives.”
Do you have any thoughts?
This appeared in the Chicago Tribune. I found it through The Page Blog on Time.
“I’m sorry to hear this, but I have every confidence they have the abilities and the confidences handle this,” he said.
“Just like children should not pay for the sins of the parents. The parents should not pay for the transgressions of the children.”
-Mark Okeson, the assistant principal at Wasilla High School
I think that says all we need to know about the Palin’s.
I just want to say that I am disappointed by a lot of liberals today and the media how they are exploiting the announcement today by the Palin’s that there older daughter is pregnant.
On Twitter, Claire Celsi has a post that says, “if you are listening..seriously, now might be a good time to focus on your own family instead of running for VP.”
It all goes back to the rumor started by Andrew Sullivan of TheAtlantic.com which said that Palin claimed she was pregnant to cover up her daughters pregnancy; her son, Trig, was actually Bristol’s son.
Sullivan is also calling for the McCain campaign to release the medical records that show that Sarah Palin actually gave birth. Give me a break!
These are the same group of people who are advocating for privacy are now asking for Palin to give up hers just for their kicks to see if she really gave birth.
A mother and professional women should be able to choose whether she will work, whether she will have a career, or whether she will stay home with her family. As a father and a husband, I would do whatever I could to support my wife in her endeavors, whatever she would decide to do.
It just amazes me that liberals and feminists are so out to get Palin that they will try and taint her as a bad mother because she wants to be Vice President while almost electing a woman to run for the Presidency.
This is a double standard that is just plain stupid.
In another instance, Alan Colmes attacked Palin because of her prenatal care, questioning whether she took the right care when she was pregnant with Trig. This is just horrible and totally wrong. Colmes has removed his post, but Kim Priestap of Wizbang captured a screenshot before that happened.
Things happen in a family and a family must deal with them. As with all previous elections and Presidencies, the kids are off limits. The media has done a good job with this, but the blogosphere has not.
The blogosphere should leave all personal family matters of all politicians alone.
Update: Kennedy, Clinton and Bush each had children living in the White House while they were President. No one ever questioned their parental skills and not devoting enough time to the family. Palin shouldn’t be questioned either because she has chosen to run for Vice President.
I just want to say that I’ll miss Tim Russert.
I enjoyed watching “Meet the Press” and listening to his thoughts and insight into political activities on NBC News and MSNBC. It was quite entertaining and he made it fun because he enjoyed it.
For those of you who don’t know, he passed away today at the age of 58.
I remember back to the Bush-Gore election and Russert was on the news speculating on the electoral college and who was going to win. It was back-and-forth and he kept erasing his white board. I was up late that night and Tim was still there with his white board.
I had the opportunity to see Tim speak in person at the PRSA International Conference last fall in Philadelphia. It was quite a speech and most of it spoke of the upcoming Presidential election. But he was most proud when he was talking about his book and his dad.
Tim Russert will be missed, especially as we go through this upcoming election. He made politics fun while educating us and providing a look into the campaigns.
After Forays With ABC and HBO, a Video Blogger Returns to Video Blogging – New York Times
Well Amanda Congdon has found out that the grass is not always greener and is returning to independent media.
Mainstream media does not always take kind to changing their culture and the culture of vloggers is out there compared to how they like to do things.
I am happy for this and I look forward to see what she develops on this new series, “Sometimes Daily,” of video blogging. It will be an interesting look at life through Amanda.
In Zimbabwe Jail: A Reporter’s Ordeal – New York Times
This is a really good article about the oppression, violence, torture and craziness of what is happening in Zimbabwe. It is really just sad what Robert Mubabe has done to this country.
Barry Bearak was covering the presidential election in Zimbabwe for the New York Times when he was arrested for “committing journalism.” The story follows his experiences through the process in jail, being freed, being re-arrested, and then escaping the country.
The main thing now is what is going to happen with the election. The final results have not been announced and they are doing a recount. The opposition is being beaten, arrested, and/or murdered. But it is a pretty good bet that Mugabe did not win the election.
Let’s hope that this repressive government leaves soon, but it is doubtful. They will probably come up with something to keep them in office. We all know that recount is a scam.
There are good people in this country, but one tyrant is suppressing and scaring a country so he can remain as the President.
Thanks Barry Bearak for the great article.
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