The last front page of the Rocky Mountain News, printed February 27, 2009
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Type | Daily newspaper |
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Format | Tabloid (Radio KOA former) |
Owner(s) | E. W. Scripps Company, Operated by Denver Newspaper Agency |
Publisher | John Temple |
Editor | John Temple |
Founded | 1859 |
Ceased publication | February 27, 2009 |
Headquarters | 101 West Colfax Ave. Suite 500 Denver, CO 80202 United States |
Circulation | 255,427 daily (March 2006) 704,806 Sunday (March 2006) |
Website | rockymountainnews.com |
The Rocky Mountain News (nicknamed the Rocky) was a daily newspaper published in Denver, Colorado, United States from April 23, 1859, until February 27, 2009. It was owned by the E. W. Scripps Company from 1926 until its closing. As of March 2006, the Monday–Friday circulation was 255,427. From the 1940s until 2009, the newspaper was printed in a tabloid format.
Under the leadership of president, publisher, and editor John Temple, the Rocky Mountain News had won four Pulitzer Prizes since 2000. Most recently in 2006, the newspaper won two Pulitzers, in Feature Writing and Feature Photography. The paper's final issue appeared on Friday, February 27, 2009, less than two months shy of its 150th anniversary. Its demise left Denver a one-newspaper town, with The Denver Post as the sole remaining large-circulation daily.
The Rocky Mountain News was founded by William N. Byers and John L. Dailey along with Dr. George Monell and Thomas Gibson on April 23, 1859, when present-day Denver was part of the Kansas Territory and before the city of Denver had been incorporated. It became Colorado's oldest newspaper and possibly its longest continuously operated business. Its first issue was printed on a printing press from Omaha, Nebraska, that had been hauled by oxcart during the start of the Colorado Gold Rush. That first issue was printed only 20 minutes ahead of its rival, the Cherry Creek Pioneer.
The Rocky went from a weekly to a daily newspaper in August 1860, and from an evening to a morning newspaper in July 1870.
In 1883, the newspaper took a stand against corruption and crime in Denver. One of its primary targets was city crime boss Jefferson Randolph Smith, alias "Soapy" Smith. In one crime-fighting campaign, the managing editor, John Arkins, allowed disrespectful comments about Smith's wife and children to be published and Smith assaulted Arkins with a cane, severely injuring the editor. The News continued its crusade to rid Denver of its most celebrated bad man, which took nearly a decade to complete.