Tag: Denver Post

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Just no! The Denver Post is off base in wanting to get rid of the electoral college

The Denver Post is just wrong in wanting to change how the election of the President is conducted. Instead of using the electoral college, they want to use the national vote.

This is just wrong. It seems to me that they have forgotten the civics and American government classes.

The electoral college was set up to lessen the influence of big states and cities. And lessen the influence of political parties. It has raised the importance of rural communities and smaller states.

As close as the elections have become, the importance of the smaller states has become important. For example, Colorado has become a battleground state and it has brought all of the presidential candidates to campaign here and not only in the Denver metro area.

Finally, they are totally inaccurate when they say millions of votes aren’t counted. They are all counted and important. The elections are too close and too important for people not to vote.

www.denverpost.com/2019/02/01/colorado-electoral-college-popular-vote/

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Littwin: Polis and his “new media” can’t gloat

Littwin: Polis and his “new media” can’t gloat – The Denver Post
This is a great column by Mike Littwin in response to Jared Polis stating that “new media” killed the Rocky Mountain News.

Littwin had a good seat to see what happened at the Rocky and it wasn’t new media.

I think he summarized things well at the end of his column when he stated, “Whatever Polis thinks, he had absolutely nothing to do with the death of the Rocky. He took his best shot, but I’d say all he hit was his foot.”

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Polis apologizes for comments about the Rocky

Congressman Jared Polis apoligized for his remarks about the closing of the Rocky Mountain News.

“I apologize to the entire Rocky Mountain News family and anyone who was offended by my recent remarks. I did not mean to offend nor to show anything less than a strong sense of remorse for the loss of the Rocky. Like many Colorado residents, I grew up reading the Rocky Mountain News and its demise and the loss of over 200 jobs is a major blow to our community, especially in these troubled times.”—Congressman Jared Polis.

The apology was published in the Denver Post.

It is nice to see that he sees what he says can have a negative impact on the community that he represents. Let’s hope that he continues to see that and does not make any more stupid comments.

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Polis mistaken when he says new media killed the Rocky Mountain News

I think that Congressman Jared Polis is terribly mistaken that new media killed the Rocky Mountain News. I don’t think so.
The Rocky’s demise was due to several different economic factors coming together at once. It was something that they and the Denver Post did to each other trying to outcompete each other.

I think that John Temple of the Rocky Mountain News said it best in a column that was published with his last edition.

One of the things that led to the decline of the paper was declining circulation. According to Temple, “On Sunday, circulation dropped from about 800,000 to about 600,000. And on Saturday the number fell from about 600,000 to about 450,000.” Continue reading “Polis mistaken when he says new media killed the Rocky Mountain News”

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Terry Frei of the Denver Post deletes blog posts

Sunday with the Avalanche from Long Island : All Things Colorado Sports Colorado.
Toward the end of a recent blog post, Terry Frei of the Denver Post admitted that he deletes blog posts that have a limited shelf life about the Colorado Avalanche.

Terry, you don’t need to do that. Keeping a blog post up there is part of history and how things develop. That is the nice thing about having things posted electronically and online, you don’t need to delete them.

First-of-all, if you have comments turned off it is not really a blog. Terry, your paper allows comments on your stories in the paper. At least you can do is have comments on your blog. I probably would have left a comment there instead of writing this post.

Not deleting blog posts and allowing comments builds community and discussion about a subject you cover and many people like, the Colorado Avalanche. I think you would improve your coverage and the people who follow you if you didn’t turn off commenting and keep the posts.

Plus, it is not good blogging etiquette. Please leave them up and open up commenting.

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Should bloggers pick up for the loss of the Rocky?

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?”

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Good-Bye 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?

  • The staff was always professional and the stories were well written.
  • The paper really covered Denver and Colorado. When I read a newspaper that is something that I look for.
  • The comics. They were so much better than the Post. 😉
  • The format. Whether it was on the kitchen table or on a flight, the tabloid format was easy to read.

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.

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Denver Post backs Obama -Rocky Mountain News supports conversation, not one candidate

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?

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Newspaper Circulation Continues Decline

In figures released today by the Audit Bureau of Circulations, of the top 25 papers in circulation, only four saw gains.
In the story, First FAS-FAX Numbers: Many Top Papers Take Big Hits, “… for 538 daily U.S. newspapers, circulation declined 2.5% to 40,689,617. For 609 papers that filed on Sunday, overall circulation dropped 3.5% to 46,771,486.”

The newspaper circulations have been declining for a long time. People are beginning to get their news in other mediums and in a more timely fashion. People are not relying on getting their news in their morning or afternoon papers anymore.

Examples of the figures for the last six-month period.

  • New York Times fell 4.51% in their daily circulation and 7.59% on Sundays.
  • Washington Post was down 3.2% during the week and 3.9% on Sundays.
  • San Francisco Chronicle was down 2.9% during the week and 0.6% on Sunday.

Locally, the Denver Post and Rocky Mountain News were down over 10%. The combined Sunday paper was down 13.52% over the last six months. The daily numbers at the Rocky Mountain News were down 11.9% according to another article, ‘Rocky’ Road: Denver Paper’s Circ Plunges — Now Points to Total Audience. Continue reading “Newspaper Circulation Continues Decline”