Final Edition from Matthew Roberts on Vimeo.

The Rocky Mountain News in Denver, Colorado, published its final issue today. The 149-year-old daily, owned by E.W. Scripps, Co., was one of two in Denver. Jim Hopkins at Gannett Blog notes that it’s the largest-circulation daily to close its doors in the current “newspaper-industry crisis.”

Staffer Matthew Roberts produced this fantastic 20-minute video about the Rocky’s final days. I feel sorry for these guys, but I’m also optimistic about the future of journalism in general. It’s going to be a rocky few years, though, pardon the pun. I think we’re going to see a lot more of this, particularly from dailies.

Incidentally, I wrote a story last month about how the crisis is affecting the Burlington Free Press. So far, they’re still alive and kickin’. Us, too.

This article appears in The Sex Issue 2009.

Seven Days’ deputy publisher and co-owner Cathy Resmer is a writer, editor and advocate for local journalism. She works in the paper’s Burlington office and lives vicariously through the reporters while raising money to pay them. Cathy started at Seven Days as a freelance writer in 2001 and still has the Rolodex to prove it. As the paper’s first online editor, she launched Seven Days email newsletters and started the paper’s first social media accounts. Cathy has overseen Kids VT, Vermont’s...

2 replies on “So long, Rocky Mountain News”

  1. Newspapers … end of an era … adapt or die? Refreshing really, think of all the trees saved, realize that the filter imposed by ownership will be diluted as journalism migrates to the electronic medium … but who will pay for it and who will oversee the new frontier for truth, honesty and ethical behavior. And what, pray tell, will I use to paper train my puppy? Good luck journalists, embrace the change and forge a new way ~ cause we need the work you do!

  2. Thanks for the video, Cathy. I really don’t know what to think of all this, it’s such a huge topic. All I know is that it means supporting independent news is more important than ever.

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