We All Live in Denver & We All Want Our Rocky

As last week's tsunami flattened the newspaper business, it swept away the Rocky Mountain News, a daily newspaper in Denver. Unless you live in or near Denver, this probably was not a news item you wished to dwell upon -- but, in a deeper sense we all live in Denver these days, so I wanted to at least pay a passing tribute to the people suddenly swept out of work and the culture of a newsroom that now will have to be consigned to history.

As it happens, one of our former blogging colleagues here at Bnet, Lisa Greim, published a lovely blog entry that captures some of the spirit and energy of the RMN, where for years she covered business stories.
Over at Flickr, former RMN employees posted a photo stream that captures in visual terms the death of their institution. Local newsies also have a site, I Want My Rocky, that points out: "Nearly as long as there's been a Denver, Colorado there's been a Rocky Mountain News. That ended on Friday, Feb. 27, 2009."

Here in the Bay Area, the San Francisco Chronicle is on a deathwatch after its owner, Hearst, threatened to close or sell it unless union officials allow the company to wriggle out of its contractual obligations to employees. On their blog for Editor & Publisher, Fitz& Jen have suggested that Hearst may be playing chicken with union reps by threatening to close or sell as part of a "who'll blink first" strategy.

In New York, Newsday is threatening to commit hari kari by charging for online content. From Seattle to Detroit to San Jose, other cities seem poised to lose their dailies, as well. On Friday, it was Denver. By December, it will be everywhere.