Today, we are a little less aware, informed, and poorer as a city and state
I have subscribed to both of the major area newspapers the entire time I have grown up and lived here in Colorado. My parents subscribed to both also. Like them, I did it mostly because I enjoyed columnists from each paper as they have come and gone, admired the work of the photographers, and yes, even because there were comics in both papers that I liked.
Last Friday the final edition of the Rocky Mountain News came out, and ended a tradition of superior journalism, excellent photography, and Pulitzer prize winning stories. The Rocky was a victim of the downturn in the economy, and the changing face of the news industry. I will miss it a lot.
Go to www.rockymountainnews.com and at the bottom of the screen there are two sections that I consider must reading. Final Salute and Columbine Shootings.
Final Edition from Matthew Roberts on Vimeo.
Last Friday the final edition of the Rocky Mountain News came out, and ended a tradition of superior journalism, excellent photography, and Pulitzer prize winning stories. The Rocky was a victim of the downturn in the economy, and the changing face of the news industry. I will miss it a lot.
Go to www.rockymountainnews.com and at the bottom of the screen there are two sections that I consider must reading. Final Salute and Columbine Shootings.
Final Edition from Matthew Roberts on Vimeo.
kinda makes you wonder about the future of print journalism. And make you wax senimental...
ReplyDeleteI find this troubling, even though I've never read the Rocky Mountain News. Isn't it, like, older than the state of Colorado? Very sad, indeed.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was in high school and college I thought often of working at a newspaper, and I did for about a year, year and a half once I graduated. Sadly, though I had worked every job the college paper had to offer, from darkroom guy all the way to editor-in-chief, my job after college was as a typesetter. I wanted to be a reporter, but it just wasn't to be...
ReplyDeleteOddly enough, even though journalism was one of my passions for a lot of years, I only subscribed to one newspaper for one year in my entire life. In 1991 I received the Sioux City Journal (which has now cut back to being almost a newsletter instead of a paper) for about ten months. As cheap as newspapers are (and they DO give a good bang for your buck -- how much does it cost to purchase a similar number of words in novel form?) I still couldn't afford the expense.
A bit later when I could afford to get newspapers I found that all the papers around here made FOX News look liberal, so I opted not to invest my money that direction.
But it makes me sad nonetheless. I remember getting two dailies at the farm when I was a kid, doing the crosswords, reading the comics, seeing which one of my classmates was busted for underage drinking the night before, etc...
I'm always sad to hear another newspaper shut down.
ReplyDeleteI feel sad to see a newspaper shut down, but at the same time I'm guilty of helping them along. I no longer subscribe to any actual paper because I get all my news (including local) online. Guess that's just a sign of the times, for better or worse.
ReplyDeleteI feel for you, seriously. We're on the verge of losing the San Francisco Chronicle and I don't know what I'll do after that, because the San Jose Mercury News has turned into a rag, when it merged with the Oakland Tribune/Contra Costa Times crap con-glum-er-rat.
ReplyDeleteThere are not enough advertisers though to sustain newspapers anymore. The Chronicle has gone from the ads of national chains and corporations, to local computer repair shops and third-rate carpet and flooring places.
Thanks all, it is quite sad. You are correct Red, it was a newspaper before we were a state, still part of the "Utah Territory". Cormac, the Chronicle was mentioned in the story of another paper in trouble.
ReplyDeleteIt is a tough time indeed!
I really wonder, will the day come when it's nearly impossible to sit down on a Sunday with an actual PAPER in your hands? Where does it stop?
ReplyDeleteThe Cleveland Press had a similar history, running from 1878 until 1982; my parents subscribed to it and all of NE Ohio mourned it's passing. I count myself lucky to have done my undergrad at Cleveland State where the archives are.
ReplyDeleteI feel for ya, bud...
I work in journalism and was sad to hear about the RMN. RIP.
ReplyDelete