I celebrated my birthday February 27th. By all birthday standards, it sucked. I suppose there’s a better euphemism for it; abysmally pathetic comes fairly close.
It wasn’t just abysmally pathetic because I was frantically trying to finish my grading before report cards were due. It wasn’t because I discovered that my yearbook staff forgot six pages (“forgot,” as in never created the pages to begin with; “forgot,” as in never decided a topic, wrote a story, or assigned a photograph).
No siree, Missy, it was none of that. It wasn’t even that I recently discovered, at 52, I have now taught long enough to begin teaching the children of former students.
While all of those things certainly contributed to my birthday malaise, the real reason for this birthday angst was the death of the Rocky Mountain News. After 149 years and 311 days, the Rocky Mountain News published its final edition on February 27.
Now, there are some who will find some glee in its demise, but for those of us journalism types who love freedom and consider ourselves the guardian angels of the Fourth Estate and First Amendment, well, the loss of another newspaper in this country is rather chilling.
In his last column, Rocky Mountain News staffer, Mike Littwin, wrote a particularly poignant piece about the death of the newspaper. Littwin, who says he initially became a journalist because it was fun, takes issue with those of us who rant about newspapers saving democracy.
As a former reporter for the Dallas Morning News, I have to agree with Littwin that being a reporter was fun. I also have to admit that I loved the adrenalin rush that breaking stories and deadlines gave, but those weren’t the reasons I went into journalism.
I entered the field on the heels of Watergate with the dream of becoming the next Woodward or Bernstein. When I was in high school, I even made a trek to the Washington Post and tried to get in to see Mr. Woodward. Although he refused to see me, I remained undeterred in my chosen field.
Article comments
1 - Lono
The whole thing is brutal. I live in Denver and wrote about this on my site as well. These poor folks were given a days notice.
Plus, who cna absorb them? The Post doesn't need additional staff as they are downsizing too.
Basically, Craig's list is killing the papers. That is my assesment. I am guilty, too. I don't use the news classifieds anymore. They charge too much, and Craig's list is free.
The paper went out with dignity, heart, and pride, though. I have a copy of the very last edition (last Friday) sitting at home. It is going in a truck with other special newspaper memories (columbine, sept 11, new years 2000, etc)
2 - Carol Richtsmeier
Craig's list is part of it, but it's also the other advertisers bailing. It's a vicious cycle. Readership is down, so advertisers want more bang for their buck and take their dollars elsewhere. I'm not quite sure what the future holds for journalism.