Rocky Mountain News To Publish Last Edition On Friday; Need For Citizen Journalists Explodes

Denver will be a one paper town starting tomorrow:

Colorado's oldest newspaper will publish its final edition Friday.

The Rocky Mountain News, less than two months away from its 150th anniversary, will be closed after a search for a buyer proved unsuccessful, the E.W. Scripps Co. announced today.

"Today the Rocky Mountain News, long the leading voice in Denver, becomes a victim of changing times in our industry and huge economic challenges," Rich Boehne, chief executive officer of Scripps, said in a prepared statement. "The Rocky is one of America’s very best examples of what local news organizations need to be in the future. Unfortunately, the partnership’s business model is locked in the past."

The GOP/conservatives/libertarians need to lock-and-load, as the potential for even more media bias without a competitor in the Rocky Mountain News will allow the Denver Post and other media outlets to proceed without that additional layer of fact-checking and watchdogging.

This is a unique opportunity. The Post, by all accounts, isn't doing that well either. Citizen journalists will represent a critical resource in combatting the misinformation campaigns from the paid hacks on the left here in Colorado. One less outlet means more competition for exposure and a fair hearing (as close to that as possible given the general left-leaning bias in the media).

Business considerations aside, this is a sad day for Colorado.

RIP Rocky Mountain News.

The Post has more, including the dwindling list of two-paper towns.

Ben DeGrow notes the balance that the Rocky brought to the Post's left-leaning bias, and Joshua Sharf points out the reality of the loss, given that access will be limited to only those with press credentials, as Colorado loses one more layer of transparency and accountability.

And Michelle Malkin has updates on the national level, with a ban of the Fairness Doctrine passing the Senate, but with more backdoor attacks planned against local media and syndicated shows.