Today's announcement comes as metropolitan newspapers and major
newspaper companies find themselves reeling, with plummeting advertising
revenues and dramatically diminished share prices. Just this week, Hearst,
owner of the San Francisco Chronicle, announced that unless it was able
to make immediate and steep expense cuts it would put the paper up for
sale and possibly close it. Two other papers in JOAs, one in Seattle and
the other in Tucson, are facing closure in coming weeks.
The Rocky was founded in 1859 by William Byers, one of the most
influential figures in Colorado history. Scripps bought the paper in 1926
and immediately began a newspaper war with The Post. That fight ebbed
and flowed over the course of the rest of the 20th century, culminating in
penny-a-day subscriptions in the late '90s.
Perhaps the most critical step for the Rocky occurred in 1942, when then-
Editor Jack Foster saved it by adopting the tabloid style it has been
known for ever since. Readers loved the change, and circulation took off.
In the past decade, the Rocky has won four Pulitzer Prizes, more than all
but a handful of American papers. Its sports section was named one of
the 10 best in the nation this week. Its business section was cited by the
Society of American Business Editors and Writers as one of the best in the
country last year. And its photo staff is regularly listed among the best in
the nation when the top 10 photo newspapers are judged.
:p
