Rocky Mountain News To Stop Presses Friday

The Rocky Mountain News in Denver will publish its last edition Friday.

Owner E.W. Scripps Co. announced on the newspaper's Web site Thursday that its search for a buyer for the paper was unsuccessful.

Scripps CEO Rich Boehne said in a statement the newspaper is "a victim of changing times in our industry and huge economic challenges." Scripps says the paper lost $16 million last year.

The News has 230 editorial employees. It will close just two months short of its 150th anniversary.

Since 2001, the News has shared business operations with The Denver Post in a joint operating agreement. William Dean Singleton, publisher of The Post and chief executive officer of its parent, MediaNews Group Inc., did not immediately return a call.

Singleton is also chairman of the board of The Associated Press.

The newspaper business has suffered a string of bad news recently.

The owner of the San Francisco Chronicle said recently it will sell or close the daily newspaper if it can't dramatically lower expenses within the next few months.

The Hearst Corp., which owns northern California's largest daily newspaper, didn't specify a savings target in Tuesday's grim announcement. But the New York-based company said the cost cutting will require significant layoffs.

After years of struggles, the San Francisco newspaper's troubles have worsened amid the longest recession since the early 1980s. Hearst said the Chronicle lost $50 million last year and is hemorrhaging even more money so far this year.

Also earlier in the week, the owners of the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News filed for bankruptcy, as did the New Haven (Conn.) Register publisher Journal Register Co.

They followed a December filing by Tribune Co., whose media stable includes the Los Angeles Times and the Chicago Tribune, and January's filing by the owners of the Star Tribune in Minneapolis.

In all, the affected companies own 33 newspapers.