Researchers have found it’s quite costly to municipalities when local newspapers close. They looked at counties where local newspapers have closed and found that local governments spend more on loans for projects than those counties who had a local newspapers.
InDenverTimes.com rolls out. I’m In
A new media outlet in Denver was launched today, InDenverTimes.com. This venture was put together by some of the former staff of the Rocky Mountain News and there entrepreneurs.
In order for it to succeed, they will need to have the commitment of 50,000 subscribers by April 23, 2009. The 150th anniversary of the Rocky Mountain News.
The subscription fees are $4.99 a month for a twelve month subscription, $5.99 for six months, $6.99 for a three month subscription.
If they reach their goal, they will launch the site on May 4.
This is an interesting venture and I am hoping it will work. The news on the site will be free, but those who subscribe will get premium content including columnists and other stuff.
I’m In! Are you?
Former Rocky journalists to hold news conference | Home of the staff of Colorado’s oldest newspaper
Former Rocky journalists to hold news conference | Home of the staff of Colorado’s oldest newspaper.
I am looking forward to the announcement tomorrow by the former Rocky Mountain News journalists on what there plans are.
I wonder if it will be a independent newspaper and whether it will be online or online and printed?
Their experience in the Denver area will make them immediately a credible news source to compete with the other media outlets in the area.
It should be a good day in Colorado media.
Rocky Mountain News coming back???
An interesting headline has appeared on the website iwantmyrocky.com. They are teasing an announcement coming Monday.
KUSA, 9 News announced tonight that a new paid news service will be coming by the staff of the Rocky Mountain News. It will be interesting to see what happens.
Former reporters have been publishing stories on iwantmyrocky.com since the newspaper stopped publishing.
It will be interesting to see what happens. I will definitely be watching on Monday.
Rocky Mountain News stopped publishing but it didn’t die
The Rocky Mountain News may have ceased publishing, but it didn’t die. It still lives on at iwantmyrocky.com.
Several of the staff have moved over here and are now publishing stories online. It looks like a great site and stories are now starting to stream in.
Here is an excerpt from their About Us Page on what they are doing.
We launched iwantmyrocky.com to fight for the Rocky. Through this Web site and other efforts, the staff of theRocky sought to:
- Preserve and protect the editorial voice of the Rocky in our community.
- Preserve and protect the legacy of the Rocky and its historical archives, which provide a window to the infancy of our state and the city of Denver.
- Fight for the jobs of more than 200 Coloradans and the many others that would be affected by the newspaper’s closure.
The paper may not be printing anymore, but we’re still journalists and still eager to report, edit, design and do all those things that we loved to do for the newspaper. So now, iwantmyrocky.com will be a gathering spot for Rocky alumni and readers, bringing you the news of your favorite reporters and columnists and even a scoop of two that you might have seen on the pages of the Rocky.
While there is news, sports, and Arts and Entertainment on the I Want My Rocky site, I am particularly intrigued by a partner site called Inside the Rockies. the fact that Tracy Ringolsby, Jack Etkin, and Steven Foster are writing about the Colorado Rockies really excites me.
Where can you get information from writers who have been covering the Colorado Rockies since before their first game in Denver and baseball longer than that. I always loved their coverage of the Rockies. It got to the point and observations of the game were made that no one else made because of their experience.
It also doesn’t hurt that Ringolsby is enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Also Drew Litton is online also. You can see his old drawings plus new ones at is site drewlitton.com. I think the cartoon he drew of Jay Cutler sucking his thumb captured the events of last weekend between Cutler and the Denver Broncos.
I look forward to reading more from I Want My Rocky, Inside the Rockies and viewing the Drew Litton editorial cartoons. They are good writers and artists. I hope you check them out too.
I Want My Rocky is now on Twitter
I Want My Rocky, a gathering of former Rocky journalists, is now on Twitter.
You can follow them at http://twitter.com/iwantmyrocky.
I hope you do. I did!
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.”
Final Edition – Rocky Mountain News Video
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.
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?”
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.
Mile High Soapbox 