ShareThisI got a little drunk last night for the first time in a long time.
That's what can happen when one loses a particularly dear old friend who has been with you through 50 years of your professional life, a steady, unswervingly loyal pal with whom it was a privilege to be associated.
Denver never will be quite the same again now that the Rocky Mountain News -- a name than conjures up manifest destiny and the nation's magnificence like no other -- has passed away after a century and a half of always being there, the symbol of steadiness amidst the youthful exuberance and excesses, the booms and busts of the western romance.
If you live there of course you won't be reading this, the last eulogy I thought I would ever have to compose knowing full well that the task would be emotionally and intellectually daunting. How does one, to borrow a phrase, find the words to match those mountains so prominently displayed in the nameplate of the oldest continuous institution in the state?
How does one do justice to an idea born in a gold rush and nurtured to maturity by magnificently dedicated men and women often as bawdy and independent and tough as the wild and wooly elements around them?
The answer is that one can only come close by listing the names of those who did daily battle in behalf of the people she served and protected for all those decades since she earned the right to do so by winning a race to publish on the banks of Cherry Creek in Kansas Territory in 1849. The list is enormous and to recite them with the chance one might miss a few would be wrong. The city should erect a monument to them.
The "Rocky," as she was affectionately known by the generations that wrote, edited and read her, held fast against what seemed at times like insurmountable odds. She survived depression and floods and snowstorms and political earthquakes and brutal, thuggish competition from scoundrels through several changes in ownership before the feisty, brilliant Roy W. Howard took on the challenge 85 years ago and fought her younger rival to a standstill in one of journalism history's most colorful battles.
That fight continued until the last, bringing the citizens of Denver and Colorado a brand of competitive journalism almost extinct. Even as the economy and advertising support began to crumble and an unholy, foolish alliance was forged with the chief competitor, the Rocky continued her public service, winning the prizes we journalists use to measure the highest standards of excellence. It is both sadly ironic and a wonderful tribute that her heroic Pulitzer Prize effort to allow the photographing of the flag draped coffins coming home from Iraq succeeded in changing government policy just as she herself succumbed.
My thoughts turn now to her courageous young leader, John Temple, who never gave up hope and continued to do her and us proud with his style of responsible reporting and editing and to some of those who preceded him -- Jack Foster, who with Jack Howard saved her 70 years ago, and Michael Howard, who brought her to new heights of achievement when he bucked the establishment and the odds to overturn the International Olympic Committee's choice of Denver for the winter games, proving it would be economic and environmental disaster.
I think about his successor, the quiet, artistic Ralph Looney whose creative abilities helped make her finally a competitive winner. It is good that he is no longer here to see his work undone. And I remember fondly Vince Dwyer who as managing editor gave a young flatlander a chance so long ago.
One can blame all the usual culprits of the times for her demise -- the Internet, dwindling readership and circulation and advertising causing her parent company major losses. That would not be wrong. But in the end, the magnificent old lady finally couldn't survive a series of horrendous business decisions by people who never understood that they were in charge of a national trust, who never quite grasped the importance of her legacy and her value.
It is a now familiar tale of success not measured by the original intent of our newspapers to inform honestly and fearlessly but by how much Wall Street believes they should earn. The huge cost to them and America is now clear.
So I drank a little too much last night and then I went where no one could see me and cried. Then I dreamed about walking up the steps of the Rocky Mountain News on a cold winter day in 1958 to begin a career I have loved. How lucky I was to have known her intimately.
(E-mail Dan K. Thomasson, former editor of the Scripps Howard News Service, at thomassondan(at)aol.com.)
COLUMN
rocky mtn news: adieu
Where was the apology: "sorry I wrote stuff nobody wanted to read." The downward spiral of newspapers has been visible for 5-10 years. Did any of these whiners beg their editors to stop the politicizing of the news? Not enough apparently and not this guy, for sure!
rocky mtn news
Instead of getting a little drunk, Thomasson and his brethren need a large dose of truth serum. Slanted, polical agenda journalism is an evil thing, and deserves to disappear. Readers are sick of it, and the papers are reaping the fruits of their labors.
"Report" in the unemployment line
Gee, Dan, everything sounds great about the Rocky Mountain News except you kind of missed on the business model: Pissing off 50% of your potential market by spouting your liberal agenda doesn't cut it. End result: Bye Bye. I swear, you "journalists" are so smart your stupid. Play it straight, be objective, good chance you survice. Hold to propaganda, and it's see you later. NOt a hard concept to wrap yourself around.
View from a small biz owner in Denver
I never like to see anyone loose their jobs. I'm sure there are some great people wondering what next today. I am finding all this opining about the loss of a dear friend a little silly. They got what they earned.
I do have experience as one of those actually paying for advertising from the Rocky and the Denver Post. I advertised for almost three years before I gave up due to them not putting out a quality product that met my business and budgetary needs. The sales staff was arrogant with a "take or leave it" attitude on pricing. You would have thought they were the hottest product going instead of fighting for survival. The advertising was way over priced. One of the problems was that they would not or could not "zone" the advertising. Instead of paying for advertising in an area around my business I had to pay a rate that covered the entire Front Range. No way was I going to get a customer coming in from up around the Wyoming state line. The billing and invoicing was horrific. Every invoice needed to be deciphered and usually wrong.
Sorry for the loss, but if you don't have a product or service that fits the times or your customers needs guess what will eventually happen?
''It is both sadly ironic
''It is both sadly ironic and a wonderful tribute that her heroic Pulitzer Prize effort to allow the photographing of the flag draped coffins coming home from Iraq succeeded in changing government policy just as she herself succumbed.''
Oh, THAT daily rag. Good riddance to bad rubbish. How's that Obama-worship thing working out for you?
Tradgedy? What Tradgedy?
How is this a tradgedy. The Newspaper had a job to do, a service to peform for its' readership, and it failed to do so. They were charged with REPORTING the NEWS. Period. Somewhere along the way, something went terribly wrong. OPINION became NEWS. They couldn't seperate themselves, and their POLITCAL PREFERENCES, from the job at hand. The result? Since they ALIENATED 50% of the folks, then 50% of the folks didn't buy their paper. Circulation fell, percipitously, the advertisers left, and yada, yada, yada, You know the rest. Picture a Restaurant, that doesn't particularly like. a certain group of people. Unfortunately for them, that group, makes up about half of the population. For a while, they didn't let on that they didn't like these guys. But, over time, they felt less inclined to hide their true feelings. Their service to this group became shoddy, the food was less than prime, and prepared poorly. And the wait staff couldn't care LESS, how awfull their service was. When that restaurant inevitably had to CLOSE, would it be a tradgedy? I don't think so. Snap out of it, pal. The TRADGEDY, was of their own making. And well deserved.
Rocky Mountain News did not
Rocky Mountain News did not have a tragic death, they died of suicide, self-inflicted wounds.
They deliberately turned liberal and alienated their customer base.
Prevention would have been innocently simple; all they had to do was print the truth; but they couldn't do it.
They had to follow MSM.
Others will follow RMN to their graves.
My Rocky
Dan, your column is a wonderful tribute to our beloved Rocky. Thank you. I've shared your column with the rest of the Rocky staff and many of our readers, so we are reading!
To those who have commented to this column, I wonder where such hatred comes from. The Rocky Mountain News, if you are indeed familiar with our publication, was generally regarded as a conservative voice in our community. That said, I am always a little surprised that any newspaper is identified by the content of one page or two pages in the paper, clearly labeled OPINION, not written or edited by the regular staff, but rather by the editorial board.
The reporters don't write the editorials in a newspaper. They write news stories. We deal in fact, not opinion. If we make a mistake (yes, we are human), we correct it in the next day's edition. We talk to more than one person to present both sides of a story. We take our responsibility as government watchdog very seriously. We look for the good in our community to share with readers. We are constantly brainstorming new ideas for stories that will be interesting and useful to you, the reader.
On the days that we've had to cover difficult stories like Columbine and 9/11, we hurt. We're upset, too. Covering the horrible economy and everything that has come with it - lost jobs, failing businesses, tanking market - has been extremely difficult for us knowing that our own industry was in trouble, too.
Yes, we feel sorry for us. We mourn the loss of our jobs. We mourn the loss of the institution that we love. We mourn the loss of an editorial voice in the community. But we feel sorry for every other person out there who has lost a job, too.
The men and women who work to put together your newspaper every day - the reporters, editors, copy editors, photographers, designers, etc. - they are people. You can't just broadstroke the Rocky, or any other newspaper, as a rag with a staff of heartless bastards.
I'm sick that money is the reason for my Rocky failing. I'm sick that it's come to greed. And I'm afraid that the Rocky will not be alone. Other newspapers will follow unless something can be done. The business model is flawed. We know that. But because of our unique situation as a partner in a joint operating agreement, all the newsroom innovation in the world couldn't save us.
Instead of comments like "good riddance" why not put your energy toward helping find a solution to save your right to a free press?