The Rocky Mountain News ceased to operate a couple of days ago. It was seen as another major failure of the newspaper publishing industry (locally for sure and even nationally). I generally don’t care about these things, basically I am all about capitalism. But what kind of got to me was that they had to close a few days shy of their 150 anniversary. It is odd how something that could have been around so long could just fall apart so quickly. I am sure their demise had been coming for some time, but when you’ve been operating for 150 years, even a 5 year collapse can be considered quick. So I am not completely heartless, the story did make me feel a bit sad. But in general, I figure if there is no market and you can’t make money, then get out of the business.

There is another major paper in Denver, The Denver Post. I’ve heard a couple of times about how sad The Dever Post is about the Rocky Mountain News going out of business. I am sure that there were reporters that were friends in both papers and so forth, but give me a break. If there can only be one newspaper in the town, who do you want it to be? Were you willing to take half your paycheck so another reported could have a job? I didn’t think so. I think what this actually represents is their fear of heading out of business too. You’re seeing it all around you, how can you not be a bit fearful that your paper won’t go under too?

So that’s what I really think is going on when I hear The Denver Post people say how sad they were about seeing the Rocky Mountain News go under. It’s one of those, ‘coulda been me’ moments. I bring all this up because now our recently elected Congressman, Jared Polis, has been talking about how he (as a huge believer in new media) helped cause the downfall of The Rocky Mountain News. You can see more about what he said here and here and here.

Of course The Denver Post doesn’t like this at all. Why would Polis be happy that he lead to the demise of a newspaper? Who knows? I really don’t care. Jared Polis didn’t burn down their office buildings. Jared Polis didn’t go around burning their papers so people could never get them. By definition if you fail in a business venture, you have a failed model. Of course there are tons of factors at play here and of course I am saddened by the fact that people lost their jobs. But if my job went kaput tomorrow, I wouldn’t expect people to feel bad for me. Of course, I don’t have as noble of a calling as journalism. It must be nice to hide behind a shield of righteousness and think that your job is in someway superior to others’. Ok, that bit was a bit harsh, but I guess I wrote it so I won’t delete it.

Anyways, Jared Polis is mean because he’s probably singing a joyful dance about putting The Rocky Mountain News out of business all by himself. At the end of the day, Rocky Mountain News is still no more, and it could have been the Denver Post. And maybe it will be in a few years time.

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