Paper publishes final edition

DENVER (AP) — On the day his newspaper published its final edition, Rocky Mountain News Editor John Temple advised a gathering of Colorado journalists to focus on local news and suggested creating online content that niche audiences might pay for.

“It’s not realistic to think in this day and age that people are going to have one information source and you’re going to be it. You try, you die,” Temple told the Colorado Press Association convention on Friday.

“If you’re not experimenting, then I think you’re in trouble,” said Temple, who also held the titles of publisher and president.

The E.W. Scripps Co., which owns the News, announced Thursday that the Friday edition would be the newspaper’s last after nearly 150 years in business.

“Goodbye, Colorado,” read the headline on a 52-page commemorative edition wrapping the regular newspaper Friday. “STOP THE PRESSES,” read the front-page headline inside.

Mike Simonton, a bond analyst at Fitch Ratings, said a number of other newspapers could close by the end of 2010, and those that survive will be focused on local contact with smaller staffs and less printed content.

Four owners of 33 U.S. daily newspapers have sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the past 21‚Ñ2 months, and a number of other newspapers are up for sale.

“We think this downturn is incremental to a very severe longer-term pressure from the Internet,” Simonton said. “Many of the newspaper groups are in dire financial situations. We believe there will be more newspaper group bankruptcies and more newspapers closing over the next two years.”

Scripps said the News lost $16 million last year. In December, the company put the News up for sale, along with its 50 percent stake in the Denver Newspaper Agency, which handled business operations for the News and its rival, The Denver Post, under a joint operating agreement. No viable buyer came forward.

Under the JOA, approved in 2001, the newspapers shared business operations while keeping their newsrooms separate. Both papers published every weekday. The Post, owned by MediaNews Group Inc., published Sunday editions while the News handled the Saturday edition.