Rocky Mountain News
| File:20090227finalfrontpage.jpg The last front page of the Rocky Mountain News, printed February 27, 2009. | |
| Type | Daily newspaper |
|---|---|
| Format | Tabloid |
| Owner(s) | E. W. Scripps Company, Operated by Denver Newspaper Agency |
| Publisher | John Temple |
| Editor | John Temple |
| Founded | 1859 |
| Ceased publication | February 27, 2009 |
| Headquarters | 101 West Colfax Ave. Suite 500 Denver, CO 80202  United States |
| Circulation | 255,427 Daily (March 2006)[1] 704,806 Sunday (March 2006)[footnotes 1] |
| Website | rockymountainnews.com |
The Rocky Mountain News (nicknamed the Rocky [2]) was a daily newspaper published in Denver, Colorado, United States from 1859 until 2009. It was owned by the E. W. Scripps Company from 1926 until its closing. As of March 2006, the Monday-Friday circulation was 255,427.[1] From the 1940s until 2009, the newspaper was printed in a tabloid format.
Under the leadership of president, publisher and editor John Temple, the Rocky Mountain News had won four Pulitzer Prizes since the year 2000. Most recently in 2006, the newspaper won two Pulitzers, in Feature Writing and Feature Photography. The News' final issue appeared on Friday, February 27, 2009.[2] The paper's demise left Denver a one-newspaper town with the Denver Post as the sole remaining large-circulation daily.
History
First issue
The Rocky Mountain News was founded by William N. Byers and John L. Dailey along with Dr. George Monell and Thomas Gibson on April 23, 1859, when present-day Denver was part of the Kansas Territory and before the city of Denver had been incorporated.[3] It became Colorado's oldest newspaper[3] and possibly its longest continuously operated business.[4] Its first issue was printed on a printing press from Omaha, Nebraska hauled by oxcart during the start of the Colorado Gold Rush.[3] That first issue was printed only 20 minutes ahead of its rival, the Cherry Creek Pioneer.[3]
Jack Foster
The E.W. Scripps Company bought the Rocky Mountain News in 1926. The Rocky Mountain News and its competitors, including The Denver Post, resorted to gasoline giveaways and other promotions in an attempt to boost circulation. By the early 1940s, the Rocky Mountain News had nearly died.
It was saved by then editor Jack Foster when he convinced Scripps to approve changing the newspaper from a broadsheet format to a tabloid design. Foster reasoned that the new format would make it easier for readers to hold and navigate and would make advertising more affordable.
Foster's wife, Frances, introduced America's first "advice" column, called Molly Mayfield. It became an instant favorite among readers and was soon adopted in many other newspapers, paving the way for advice columnists such as Ann Landers and Abigail Van Buren.
The joint operating agreement
After a continued rivalry that almost put both papers out of business, the Rocky Mountain News and The Denver Post merged operations in 2001 under a joint operating agreement[5]. Through the JOA, the Denver Newspaper Agency was formed. The new company ran all non-editorial operations of both papers, namely advertising and circulation, and is equally owned by the E. W. Scripps Company and MediaNews Group, which owns The Denver Post.
The two newspapers continued to publish separately (except during the weekends, when the Rocky Mountain News was published only on Saturday and The Denver Post only on Sunday; each newspaper had one page of editorials in the other paper's weekend edition) and maintained their rivalry.
Following the shutdown of the Rocky on February 27, 2009, the Post resumed seven-day-a-week publication.
Recent awards
1999
- Morton Margolin Prize For Distinguished Business Reporting
- Awarded to Al Lewis for reporting on the dubious financing schemes of a Chattanooga, Tenn., developer who bought out a failed special district in Colorado and used it to issue tax-free bonds to pay for a new headquarters for the Federal Communications Commission in Washington, D.C.
2000
- Pulitzer Prize - Breaking News Photography
- From the citation: "Awarded to the Denver Rocky Mountain News Photo Staff for its powerful collection of emotional images taken after the student shootings at Columbine High School."[6]
2002
- Best Of The West
- Won more first place awards than any other western newspaper
2003
- Pulitzer Prize - Breaking News Photography
- From the citation: "Awarded to The Rocky Mountain News Photography Staff for its powerful, imaginative coverage of Colorado's raging forest fires."[7]
- Colorado Press Association's General Excellence Award
- Named best large daily newspaper in Colorado for the eighth year in a row.
- 25 Society for Newspaper Design Awards
- Awarded to the photo and design staffs. They placed eighth in the world.
- 9 National Press Photographers Association Awards
- 6 Pictures of the Year International Awards
2006
- Pulitzer Prize - Feature Writing
- Awarded to Jim Sheeler, Rocky Mountain News reporter for his "Final Salute" special report, the story of a Marine major assigned to casualty notification and how he helps families with fallen relatives in Iraq cope with their loss.
- Pulitzer Prize - Feature Photography
- Awarded to Todd Heisler, Rocky Mountain News photographer for his photos in the "Final Salute" special report.
Redesign
On January 23, 2007, the Rocky Mountain News was redesigned to a smaller, magazine-style format. The redesign's features included more color pages and photographs, full-page photo section covers, a new masthead logo, and different page numbering from the previous design.
The redesign was the result of new presses that allowed the newspaper to print about 25 percent faster than its old presses, at an average speed of 60,000 issues per hour.[8]
The end
On December 4, 2008, E.W. Scripps & Co. put the News up for sale, with industry analysts saying the move was possibly a prelude to shutting down the paper.[4] Although Scripps was contacted by one private equity investor from Texas who expressed interest, that potential deal foundered for reasons that included complications of the joint operating agreement.[9] On February 26, 2009, Scripps announced the newspaper would print its final edition the next day. Scripps said it will now offer for sale the masthead, archives and Web site of the Rocky, separate from its interest in the newspaper agency.[2]
In Denver Times
On Monday, March 16, 2009, several former Rocky Mountain News staffers announced the development of a new on-line, real-time local newspaper. The new newspaper needs 50,000 subscriber pledges before April 23, 2009, in order to start. If the subscription goal is met, the full In Denver Times website will launch on May 4, 2009. On April 23, 2009, In Denver Times revealed that the premium content subscription model got only 3,000 subscribers.[10] The sites founders have stated that they do not intend to continue the current business model, and, instead, plan to continue with a less-staffed news site. Steve Foster and several former Rocky Mountain News journalists have stated that they believe that the original business model of a robustly staffed online alternative newspaper can succeed and are looking for new backers.[11]
See also
Footnotes
- ^ Circulation figures include combined figures from the Rocky Mountain News Saturday editions and The Denver Post Sunday editions. At the time of its demise, the News did not publish a Sunday edition.
References
- ^ a b "2006 Top 100 Daily Newspapers in the U.S. by Circulation" (PDF). BurrellesLuce. 2006-03-31. Retrieved 2007-03-06.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ a b c http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2009/feb/26/rocky-mountain-news-closes-friday-final-edition/
- ^ a b c d "Scrappy Rocky Mountain News closing its doors". Associated Press. The Washington Post. February 27, 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-28.
- ^ a b "Rocky Mountain News for sale". The Denver Post. 2008-12-05. Retrieved 2009-02-28.
- ^ http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/119679_joaelsewhere29.html
- ^ http://pulitzer.org/year/2000/breaking-news-photography/
- ^ http://pulitzer.org/year/2003/breaking-news-photography/
- ^ Video journal (Windows Media Video). Rocky Mountain News. Retrieved 2009-02-28.
Four years of planning culminated Monday night when the Denver Newspaper Agency printed the redesigned Rocky Mountain News on new $65 million presses. DNA production director Larry Charest and his team oversaw the quality of 60,000 copies per hour in the 260,000-copy run.
{{cite AV media}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters:|month2=,|year2=, and|date2=(help) - ^ "'Rocky' Finance Editor Lands One Last Scoop on the Way Out". Editor & Publisher. February 27, 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-28.
Milstead identified the lone bidder who expressed some interest to owner E.W. Scripps Co. in buying the Rocky as Texas private-equity investor Brian Ferguson, who said the deal foundered on his inability to "adequately mitigate the risks involved in an acquisition" complicated by the joint operating agreement (JOA) with MediaNews Group's The Denver Post and other issues.
- ^ http://blogs.westword.com/latestword/2009/04/indenver_times_the_official_re.php
- ^ http://www.ncbr.com/article.asp?id=99815
http://www.ncbr.com/article.asp?id=99815
External links
- Rocky Mountain News official website
- Denver Newspaper Agency official website
- Rocky Mountain News profile from the E. W. Scripps Company website
- Rocky Mountain News on MySpace
- In Denver Times, "a vision based on a 150-year tradition, where the spirit of the Rocky lives" (formerly I Want My Rocky, a WordPress blog from the "reporters, editors, photographers, web producers and everyone who brings you the Rocky")
- [1], the In Denver Times failure to meet the original 50,000 subscription goal.