Here's their story.
It is with great sadness that we say goodbye to you today.
Our time chronicling the life of Denver and Colorado, the nation and
the world, is over. Thousands of men and women have worked at this
newspaper since William Byers produced its first edition on the banks
of Cherry Creek on April 23, 1859. We speak, we believe, for all of
them, when we say that it has been an honor to serve you. To have
reached this day, the final edition of the Rocky Mountain News,
just 55 days shy of its 150th birthday is painful. We will scatter. And
all that will be left are the stories we have told, captured on
microfilm or in digital archives, devices unimaginable in those first
days. But what was present in the paper then and has remained to this
day is a belief in this community and the people who make it what it
has become and what it will be. We part in sorrow because we know so
much lies ahead that will be worth telling, and we will not be there to
do so. We have celebrated life in Colorado, praising its ways, but we
have warned, too, against steps we thought were mistaken. We have
always been a part of this special place, striving to reflect it
accurately and with compassion. We hope Coloradans will remember this
newspaper fondly from generation to generation, a reminder of Denver’s
history – the ambitions, foibles and virtues of its settlers and those
who followed. We are confident that you will build on their dreams and
find new ways to tell your story. Farewell – and thank you for so many
memorable years together.
Here's the front page from the Newseum.
Here's the Denver Post's front page. Here's the Pueblo Chieftain's.
Creative destruction? Destruction, yes. Creative, probably. Although I'm sad to see it go it doesn't really surprise me. I'm no expert on newspaper economics, but I always thought it was something of an oddity for Denver to have two major daily newspapers for so long. Local newspaper markets seem like something of a natural monopoly to me.
I travel to Colorado to see my sister every few years, so I keep up with Colorado news more frequently than most. The RMN was one of those papers/sites that I would check when I wanted the Colorado angle on stuff, but no more.
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