Posted on 01/15/2009 2:32:14 PM PST by abb
Rocky Mountain News owner E.W. Scripps Co. said Wednesday it will accept bids for the struggling newspaper through the close of business Friday.
Scripps then will review any offers "as quickly as possible, but there's no specific timetable for completing that process," spokesman Tim King said.
Wednesday's announcement, made among increasing speculation about the future of the News, marks the first time that Scripps has set a specific deadline for dealing with the 150-year-old newspaper.
The Cincinnati-based media company had said last month that it would try to sell the News through mid-January, at which time it would explore other options that could include shutting down the paper.
Many newspaper analysts have said that the chances of selling the News are slim.
Scripps officials have said a handful of parties have expressed interest in the News, although they have released no information on the prospective buyers' identities or financial qualifications.
A handful of grass-roots appeals recently have called for the survival of the News, but they have failed to produce any public financial commitments for buyers.
Denver public-relations employment consultant Andrew Hudson this week proposed creation of a sales tax to subsidize ailing newspapers through a structure similar to the tax that supports metro Denver cultural institutions.
Reporters at the News, in an independent website, have asked supporters of the paper to write Scripps officials with appeals to keep the paper alive.
King said Wednesday that Scripps has received "dozens" of e-mails from the initiative.
The News and The Denver Post have independent newsrooms but run their advertising, circulation and business units in a joint operating agreement administered by the Denver Newspaper Agency.
Terms of the agreement give Post owner MediaNews Group the right to reject, or match, any purchase offer for the News.
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(Excerpt) Read more at denverpost.com ...
I’ve been a subscriber to the Rocky for many years, and have been disappointed for the last few years in their gradual swing leftward. I’ve considered for the past year cancelling my subscription anyway.
There is no way in hell I would ever consider the Post.
Both the Rocky and the Post do the same trick of occasionally endorsing candidates contrary to their editorial philosophy so they appear to be more even handed.
Griego is very liberal, but it was interesting that she wrote a column endorsing Tom Boasberg to take over DPS. He's a reformer, by Dem standards. A group of self-appointed Hispanic leaders oppose him, though.
nobody will bid. it will fold. same with the Seattle Piss Intourbutt... and then the Red Star Tribune can join them as far as any of us are concerned. Turn them all into bloggers with minimum wage jobs on the side
I wonder how many hack objective journalists would work for a government-subsidized propaganda sheet.
What's the difference between National Public Radio journalism and "government-subsidized propaganda sheet" journalism?
>>>>>What’s the difference between National Public Radio journalism and “government-subsidized propaganda sheet” journalism?<<<<<<<
We’ve had public radio for a long time, and public TV almost since TV existed.
But America has never had a public newspaper.
Ostrich Brigade notwithstanding, it's pretty typical these days for the more conservative papers to be falling faster than the more liberal ones. Look at how The Washington Times is losing circulation facster than The Washington Post. And newspapers are finding that their success lies with stories that are written more simply and can be mostly told in three paragraphs or less. America is becoming illiterate.
You've got the chicken and egg mixup...they aren't selling as many ads, so they switched to the reduced size tab format. That might be leading to fewer ads itself, or might not, but the cycle starts with the ad drop that everyone is facing. Many papers reduced format, dropping from broadsheet to tab, cutting widths and/or sections, etc.
I know several people who dropped their subscription after the Rocky did a cover-story puff piece on the Gay Pride parade.
I will be worried to lose Vincent Carroll's voice, but that might be it.
Does anybody here participate on YourHub.com or other local community journalism sites? Seems like a good place to engage with locals on important issues. I might try the Denver Post's Neighborhood site as well, just to counter the worst of the reporting and commmentary.
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