The Frame
A photo blog of world events by Sacbee.com Assistant Director of Multimedia Tim Reese.
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February 26, 2009
Rocky Mountain News closes
The Rocky Mountain News, Colorado's oldest newspaper and a Denver fixture since 1859, will publish its last edition Friday. Owner E.W. Scripps Co. said Thursday the newspaper lost $16 million last year and the company was unable to find a buyer. The News is the latest -- and largest -- newspaper to fail amid a recession that has been especially brutal for the industry.
"People are in grief, and they're very, very upset trying to process all the emotions that go with it and trying to recognize that we will be putting out our final edition tomorrow," said News publisher John Temple. But that edition, he declared, is "going to be spectacular." Friday's newspaper will include a 52-page commemorative section, with a print run of about 350,000 copies. The News had a daily circulation of 210,000 and 457,000 on Saturdays.
"It's very rare that you get to play the music at your own funeral, so you want to make sure you do it well," Temple said.  (16 images) 

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Rocky Mountain News employees react as executives announce the closing of the newspapers Thursday Feb. 26, in Denver. AP / Rocky Mountain News / Judy Dehaas

 


 

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Scripps CEO Rich Boehne speaks at a news conference at the DNA Building in Denver on Thursday, Feb. 26. E.W. Scripps Company announced that the Rocky Mountain News, in Denver, Colo., will close and Friday, Feb. 27, will be the final edition of the newspaper. AP / Craig F. Walker



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Rich Boehne, E. W. Scripps Presdient and CEO and Mark Contreras, E. W. Scripps Senior Vice-President of Newpapers, announce the closing of The Rocky Mountain News, Thursday Feb. 26. Editor and Publisher of the Rocky Mountain News, John Temple, is in the center. AP / Rocky Mountain News / Judy Dehaas



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Randall Roberts, administration editor of the Rocky Mountain News, and other employees listen as executives announce the closing of The Rocky Mountain News,Thursday, Feb. 26, in Denver. AP / Rocky Mountain News / Judy Dehaas



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A monitor in the newsroom of the Rocky Mountain News announces the newspaper's closure Feb. 26, in Denver, Colo.. Executives with parent company E.W. Scripps announced to employees that tomorrow's edition of the News would be its last after almost 150 years of publishing. The newspaper had been put up for sale by Scripps, but the search for a buyer proved unsuccessful. The closure will cost 228 newsroom employees their jobs. Getty Images / Marc Piscotty



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Rocky Mountain News Internet news editor John Boogert updates the paper's site as News Executive Editor John Temple, left, and executives from E.W. Scripps Co., including CEO Rich Boehne, center, discuss Scripps decision to close the newspaper Thursday morning, Feb. 26, in Denver. In December 2008, the Rocky's parent company put the paper up for sale, citing multi-million dollar annual losses. AP / Rocky Mountain News / Joe Mahoney



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Rocky Mountain News editor, publisher and president John Temple hugs Judy DeHaas, a staff photographer at the paper, in the newsroom Feb. 26, in Denver, Colo.. Executives with parent company E.W. Scripps announced to employees that tomorrow's edition of the News would be its last after almost 150 years of publishing. Getty Images / Marc Piscotty



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A piggy bank sits on the desk of Dean Krakel, the Rocky Mountain News' director of photography. Feb. 26, in Denver, Colo.. Executives with parent company E.W. Scripps announced to employees that tomorrow's edition of the News would be its last after almost 150 years of publishing. Getty Images / Marc Piscotty



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Reporters Gary Massaro, left, and Judi Villa hug in the newsroom of the Rocky Mountain News in Denver on Thursday, Feb. 26. E.W. Scripps Co., owners of the News, which is Colorado's oldest newspaper dating back to 1859, announced on Thursday that the paper will cease publication on Friday, Feb. 27. AP / David Zalubowski



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Rocky Mountain News presentation editor Kim Humphreys hugs her daughter, Clara, 4, after as E.W. Scripps Co. CEO Rich Boehne announced Scripps' decision to close The Rocky Mountain News in the 150-year-old newspaper's newsroom Thursday, Feb. 26, in Denver. In December 2008, the Rocky's parent company put the paper up for sale, citing multi-million dollar annual losses. AP / Rocky Mountain News / Joe Manoney



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From left, reporters Jerd Smith, April Washington and Laura Frank console each other in the newsroom of the Rocky Mountain News in Denver on Thursday, Feb. 26. E.W. Scripps Co., owners of the News, which is Colorado's oldest newspaper dating back to 1859, announced on Thursday that the paper will cease publication on Friday, Feb. 27. AP / David Zalubowski



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Colorado Rocky Mountain News photographer Chris Schneider talks on a phone shortly after learning that his paper is closing, while on assignment covering a spring training baseball game between the Chicago White Sox and Colorado Rockies Thursday, Feb. 26, in Tucson, Ariz. The Rocky Mountain News, Colorado's oldest newspaper and a Denver fixture since 1859, will publish its last edition Friday, Feb. 27. Owner E.W. Scripps Co. said Thursday the newspaper lost $16 million last year and the company was unable to find a buyer. AP / Elaine Thompson



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From left to right, Curt Anderson, Deb Goeken, Dean Krakel, Janet Reeves and Steve Miller review the daily images to select for the final newspaper on the last day of the Rocky Mountain News Thursday, Feb. 26. The News is the latest - and largest - newspaper to fail in a recession that has been especially brutal for the industry. AP / The Denver Post / Marie Griffin



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Rocky Mountain News courts reporter Sue Lindsay packs up a box with some of her personal belongings at the newspaper's offices Feb. 26 in Denver. E.W. Scripps Co. executives announced to employees that tomorrow's edition of the News would be its last after almost 150 years of publishing. Getty Images / Marc Piscotty



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Rocky Mountain News reporters April Washington and Daniel Chacon walk arm-in-arm through the newsroom Feb. 26 in Denver, Colo.. Executives with News parent company E.W. Scripps announced to employees that tomorrow's edition of the newspaper would be its last after almost 150 years of publishing. The newspaper had been put up for sale by Scripps, but the search for a buyer proved unsuccessful. The closure will cost 228 newsroom employees their jobs. Getty Images / Marc Piscotty



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The printing presses for the Rocky Mountain News are seen at the printing plant in Denver, Thursday, Feb. 26. The Rocky Mountain News, Colo.'s oldest newspaper and a Denver fixture since 1859, will publish its last edition Friday. Owner E.W. Scripps Co. said Thursday the newspaper lost $16 million last year and the company was unable to find a buyer. AP / The Denver Post / John Leyba



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