Sad day for Rocky
How classy of E.W. Scripps to give the Rocky an extra day to publish a last edition.
Scripps could have shut down the paper yesterday and saved a little money. After all, if the 150-year old newspaper had been printed for, say, a week longer, to give itself and its readers time to reflect about journalism and their community, think of all the money Scripps would have lost. Anyway, the point is, the Rocky is a business, and that’s the way it is. But unlike other outfits, its death leaves an information gap that’s widening as other news outlets cut back too.
It’s a blow for coverage of the day-to-day stuff of our community, especially our local government. There are still lots of sources of national news, but local news is in serious decline.
So, as a condolence gift for the Rocky’s death, don’t send flowers to Editor John Temple or Mike Littwin or Vince Carroll.
Do something to support a Denver news outlet that actually gathers local news, not just aggregates it or opines about it.
Donate to nonprofit news outlets that are still covering our local community: This means nonprofits like: Colorado Public Radio; community radio station KGNU (1390 AM); online news outlets ColoradoIndependent.com and (sort of) FaceTheState.org; and public television stations KBDI (Channel 12) and Rocky Mountain PBS (Channel 6). Read Westword and even the Denver Daily News. Try out the Colorado Statesman or the Denver Business Journal.
Complement Denver’s local TV news shows and KOA when they air good local journalism, which thank god they still do.
But most important, subscribe to the Denver Post. And buy a subscription for a friend. There’s no better way to support local journalism. It’s actually a great cause, even if the Post’s owner, MediaNews, is no less greedy than E.W. Scripps.
Anyway, to mark the death of the Rocky, do something to support local news reporting.