Colorado’s oldest newspaper, The Rocky Mountain News, will publish it’s last edition tomorrow. It’s a sad passage that is being mirrored in cities all over the country as people increasingly turn to TV, the Web or their mobile phone for news. I must admit, I don’t read newspapers.
Who has time to read through a whole newspaper? And they leave your hands so dirty. And then you have to dispose of them, either by filling the landfills or letting them pile up for recycling. So why do I care? Because the Rocky has been around since 1859 and I hate to see it go. And because I was a print Journalism major in college and I worked as a daily newspaper reporter as my first “real” job. It turns out it wasn’t for me, but I have the highest regard for the Press. Our free press provides the checks and balances that our society sadly needs. Newspapers have the time to devote to digging out a story that a short news broadcast just can’t match. In a ideal world, every city would still have competing newspapers with different points of view, but that hasn’t been the case for a decade or more now.
I hope that the displaced staff will find new jobs that use their valuable talents and skills, even though it won’t be the same. Newspaper reporters certainly don’t go into it for the money and it will be a sad day in the newsroom tomorrow. And it will be a sad day for all of those used to reading the Rocky with their morning coffee when it’s no longer there.
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4 comments:
I just heard about this on the local news here in MN! I'm so sorry to hear this. I love to read the daily paper. Especially when I go home to my parents home! It always makes me feel more connected. Again I'm sorry for the loss.
Michelle-
It's a scary world inside the newspaper business - especially since I'm a newspaper photographer. Our paper is struggling and will probably be completely online by the end of this year. And even then, I don't think it'll make it. Who would have ever known it would end up like this even 5 years ago?
jude
It is sad to hear, but you are so very right in saying that people just don't take the time to read a whole paper anymore. And I hate the ink all over my fingers!
That being said...I hate to see anyone lose their job...especially people who work so hard for what they do!
That is so so sad. I read it when we lived in SW Colorado... sigh
It is like books, there is something about actually holding the pages in your hands that computers can't replace for me.
Too bad. Where does a reporter go?
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