Rocky Mountain News
The Rocky Mountain News (nicknamed the Rocky[2]) was a daily newspaper published in Denver, Colorado, from April 23, 1859, until February 27, 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.
Type
Daily newspaper
E. W. Scripps Company, Operated by Denver Newspaper Agency
John Temple
John Temple
April 23, 1859
February 27, 2009
Under the leadership of president, publisher, and editor John Temple, the Rocky Mountain News had won four Pulitzer Prizes since 2000. Most recently in 2006, the newspaper won two Pulitzers, in Feature Writing and Feature Photography. The paper's final issue appeared on Friday, February 27, 2009, less than two months shy of its 150th anniversary.[2] Its demise left Denver a one-newspaper town, with The Denver Post as the sole remaining large-circulation daily.
Revival plans and successors[edit]
INDenver Times and the Rocky Mountain Independent[edit]
On March 16, 2009, several former Rocky Mountain News staffers announced a plan to develop a new on-line, real-time local newspaper, with a staff of about 30 journalists. The plan required 50,000 subscriber pledges before April 23, 2009; if that goal was met, the full website, with the name INDenver Times, would launch on May 4, 2009. On April 23, 2009, INDenver Times, the name for the proposed restart, reported that only 3,000 people had subscribed to the premium content subscription model.[13] The three co-founders said that they did not intend to continue the planned business model, and, instead, would create a less-staffed news site, while Steve Foster and several former Rocky Mountain News journalists said that they believed that the original business model of a robustly staffed on-line alternative newspaper could succeed and were looking for new backers.[14]
INDenver Times, still on-line as of April 2018, does not use the subscription model, instead depending on advertising for its revenue. As of October 2013, the three co-founders Kevin Prebuld, Brad Gray, and Ben Ray, editor Steve Haigh, and contributors Drew Litton and Ed Stein were the only remaining staff from the original venture.[15] The site relies on 15 contributors and six "INSighters". On September 7, 2009, INDT.com unveiled a new website design, allowing readers to read the news in a more organized format.
On July 4, 2009, Steve Foster and several former Rocky Mountain News employees launched a new venture known as the Rocky Mountain Independent. The new website used a three-pronged revenue strategy: advertising, subscription revenues, and outside contributors. Subscriptions cost $4.00 per month and yearly subscriptions were 50% for the first three months, at $24. The 12 owners of the website committed to working for free until the end of September 2009.[16][17] The website stopped publishing new content on October 5, 2009.[18]
Possible revival[edit]
In December 2014, Denver billionaire Philip Anschutz was reported to be exploring the possibility of reviving the Rocky Mountain News; he had placed a prototype online and was conducting market research to assess the feasibility of a relaunch.[19][20]
Awards[edit]
In 2000, the Rocky Mountain News photo staff was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography "for its powerful collection of emotional images taken after the student shootings at Columbine High School."[21]
In 2002, the paper won more first-place awards than any other Western newspaper.
In 2003, the Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography was awarded to the Rocky Mountain News photography staff "for its powerful, imaginative coverage of Colorado's raging forest fires."[22] The paper also won the Colorado Press Association's General Excellence Award, the award for the best large daily newspaper in Colorado (for the eighth year in a row).
The photo and design staffs won 25 Society for News Design awards, placed eighth in the world, and won nine National Press Photographers Association awards and six Pictures of the Year International awards.
In 2006, Jim Sheeler of the Rocky Mountain News won the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing 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 losses.[23] Todd Heisler won the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography the same year for his photos in the same special report.[24]