Link: Rocky Mountain News to close, publish final edition Friday
And the journalists are Twittering their final edition:
Link: Twitter / RMN_Newsroom.
Isn't this just a bummer? It reminds me of scenes from the late 80s, when two newspaper cities suddenly became one-newspaper cities, or else the papers got joint-operating agreements that made them essentially one, except with separate editorial staffs.
Except back then, the papers were being shuttered because shareholder profits were falling below 20%, and now its happening because their corporate parents are holding too much debt and the papers are forced to pay the price.
I still don't believe this enterprise has suddenly become "unprofitable." I think it's been run into the ground by greedy corporate mismanagement ready to exceed subscription revenue by pandering endlessly to advertisers, so unbalancing to the equation that the over-thick behemoths were produced more for the advertisers than the readers.
Now we are at the fulcrum point, beyond which, there is no going back. It won't just be the Rocky Mountain News, a fine and award-winning paper. Entire mid-size cities will soon find themselves without any newspaper, and they'll learn to live with it. The Philadelphia Inquirer's owner is filing bankruptcy, and how much longer will many of these papers last? Some even wonder if the NYTimes is strong enough to fight off an acquisition attempt from Rupert Murdoch.
Link: On The Media: Transcript of "Stopping the Press" (February 20, 2009).
I was listening to On the Media from last weekend, which did a segment on the dying newspapers (I am reminded of the classic George Orwell short story, "Shooting an Elephant," and how long it took the elephant to die), and one of the alternative models that caught my attention was not the non-profit endowment idea (bleh) nor the drastic staff reduction model (can you say "Thrifty Nickel?).
I'm not married to the paper model, which largely served advertisers and killed trees unnecessarily. I actually read better online, because of transmitted light vs. reflected light viewing (damn these over-40 eyes!). Not enough contrast for me on print anymore.
But maybe there is something to be said for the splintering of the delivery medium into micro-publications dispersed through various online distribution mechanisms. I still believe in an ad-supported model, but one built on the readers' ecosystem, not an advertiser's manipulation of that ecosystem. Screw them. Imagine, an actual reader-centered publication! What a radical idea!
Micropayments or whatever you want to call them create walls and lock content out of the Commons, out of the currency of ideas open for discussion. Screw that too. I don't care who is advocating it. Unless they can implement micropayments like Kachingle, without walls, it's a dead model in my book.
But advertisers can extract great value from reader-centered publications, because rather than hardened arteries of traditional media buys on a wing and a prayer, the advertisers can actually pay for eyeball exposure with solid tracking and measurable results. They just have to learn how to live with the long tail, and learn how to price it appropriately (and viably, so the publication can stay in business).
And publishers, big publishers, have to learn better how to preserve their own long tails! No more destroying your own permalinks every time you do a redesign, people! Practice some REAL SEO one of these days, how about it?
But today is not a day for lectures. It is a day to be sad for the Rocky Mountain News, and for all the bright and curious and aggressive journalists who have to now find other careers, because this 20th century anomaly, the morphing of the broadsheet and the penny press into some massive and debt-ridden enterprise, is over. R.I.P.
But please, let's keep investigating, keep asking uncomfortable questions, keep casting our words out on the waters for those who have the ears to hear them.
The newspaper is dead. Long live the newspaper!
Rocky Mountain News to close, publish final edition Friday
By Rocky Mountain News
Originally published 12:01 p.m., February 26, 2009
Updated 03:37 p.m., February 26, 2009
The Rocky Mountain News publishes its last paper tomorrow.
Rich Boehne, chief executive officer of Rocky-owner Scripps, broke the news to the staff at noon today, ending nearly three months of speculation over the paper's future.
"People are in grief," Editor John Temple said at a news conference later.
Boehne told staffers that the Rocky was the victim of a terrible economy and an upheaval in the newspaper industry.
"Denver can't support two newspapers any longer," Boehne told staffers, some of whom cried at the news. "It's certainly not good news for you, and it's certainly not good news for Denver."
Reaction came from across the nation and around the block.
"The Rocky Mountain News has chronicled the storied, and at times tumultuous, history of Colorado for nearly 150 years. I am deeply saddened by this news, and my heart goes out to all the talented men and women at the Rocky," U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet said in a statement. "I am grateful for their hard work and dedication to not only their profession, but the people of Colorado as well."
[...]
On Dec. 4, Boehne announced that Scripps was looking for a buyer for the Rocky and its 50 percent interest in the Denver Newspaper Agency, the company that handles business matters for the papers. The move came because of financial losses in Denver, including $16 million in 2008.
"This moment is nothing like any experience any of us have had," Boehne said. "The industry is in serious, serious trouble."
At a news conference later, Editor John Temple said he was optimistic about the future of journalism but added that newspapers would be "radically different" in the future. He said he had no plans for his own future, although Boehne said Temple has a job with Scripps if he wants it.
Boehne said there was an out-of-state nibble from only one potential buyer, who withdrew after realizing that it would cost as much as $100 million "just to stay in the game."
[...]
The closure of the Rocky will mean Denver will have just one major newspaper, like the vast majority of American cities today.
"I certainly feel that all of (us) did what we could to make this paper successful, and I want to thank you for that," Editor John Temple told the staff. "To me, this is the very sad end of a beautiful thing."
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.
[...]
Today's announcement comes as metropolitan newspapers and major newspaper companies find themselves reeling, with plummeting advertising revenues and dramatically diminished share prices. Just this week, Hearst, owner of the San Francisco Chronicle, announced that unless it was able to make immediate and steep expense cuts it would put the paper up for sale and possibly close it. Two other papers in JOAs, one in Seattle and the other in Tucson, are facing closure in coming weeks.
[...]
In the past decade, the Rocky has won four Pulitzer Prizes, more than all but a handful of American papers. Its sports section was named one of the 10 best in the nation this week. Its business section was cited by the Society of American Business Editors and Writers as one of the best in the country last year. And its photo staff is regularly listed among the best in the nation when the top 10 photo newspapers are judged.
Staffers were told to come in Friday to collect personal effects.
"I could say stupid things like 'I know how you feel.' I don't," Boehne said. "We are just deeply sorry. I hope you will accept that."
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