Did someone put this whole video together overnight? Amazing if so.

This is a sad day. I wish the employees could have purchased The RMN themselves and that Scripps was willing to work with them for the financing. I have been unemployed for over a year and I hope you do not experience the true feeling of long term unemployment.
God Bless You all.

Great video.

Ive been in Colorado for 10 years now and nothing compares to the family like feeling you get from all the staff at the RMN. You all will be missed. I'd like to give praise to Matthew Roberts for putting together such a heartfelt goodbye.
You have done your (our) paper proud.

Well done. Sad moments.

This is a fantastic tribute, Matt and Joe (and Janet and Sonya and everyone else who contributed). I'm going to miss you guys something fierce.

Wonderful video, with great quality and content!
Over the next 10-years, this video will be repeated in many cities across the country, with Post, Herald, & Times substituted for RMN.
How sad....

Thanks for sharing your story. I am saddened to hear it but think you made one hell of a good report. Good luck to you all.

a well done piece on a sad day. Good luck to all my friends out there.

so sad. so well done. i just took a buyout from the pittsburgh post gazette, which is hanging on by a hangnail...

Very emotional to watch that, so sad, but that was very nice work.

i know what u people r going threw, i worked in the paper indust. for 23yrs, and our mill went down in 2001 after more than 100 yrs. employed over 1000 people in it's hay day,down to around 500 when it was shut down,we were told back in the 90's that the internet would cost alot of jobs from people who make the paper down to the end user, who belived them, nobody. well some one told me that there is life after papermaking.and i said ya right, sure there is. but that person was right. GOOD LUCK! there will be a life after the rocky. (BY THE WAY I'M FROM UPSTATE NEW YORK)

powerful video. really nice job on this package. good luck with your next step. Keep journalism rolling, but keep your options open on how you do it

: (

Hey Matthew. Sorry for your loss and the loss for your entire staff. As a long time reader, The Rocky and your work will be sorely missed.

I know this is no consolation, but I hope you enter this piece in next years Emmys. As a long time judge and multiple winner, your work is worthy. In fact, you have a career ahead of you as a documentary filmmaker if you want it. I'm certain that no TV station in town will have an entry that could match this piece's depth. This was clearly a passion-project for you, and it shows. Simply masterful storytelling. The deadline for 2008 content has just passed, however check out the following link that shows you the different categories and rules: emmyawards.tv/awards/documents/2009CFEFinal.pdf If you scroll down to category 40, you'll see the Emmys just added a whole new segment for web journalism. Once the pain clears, I hope you enter. One more thing...please consider entering this piece in the Best of Photojournalism Awards from the National Press Photographers Association. My wife was one of the national judges in 2008. Your piece would hold up very well in the web editing categories.

While I know shiny statues don't fill a loss, they do help pad a resume when looking for work. You have a promising future ahead of you as a documentary producer/director/editor. I look forward to seeing more work from you in the upcoming years.

Best of luck,
Scott Takeda

What a wonderful touching video, thoughts are with you guys, Lacey - The Commercial Appeal

Wonderful job Matthew. If no other film emerges from the devastation of the newspaper industry, this one will tell the story. Very powerful, well-shot, well-structured and edited.

While I feel for Jeff Legwold and his wife and children, I want to clear up a bit of wrong information he had about the health of Scripps and the News: The News didn't have just "one tough year." It had had many. It lost millions and millions befor the 2000 JOA. It made some money the next few years, but started losing multiple millions again.
Scripps' overall business is falling fast. Their TV revenue is down substantially as well, and to hold on to a serious money pit that was the News would have been just bad business.

Oh, and one more thing to Legwold and the rest of the RMN: if he and they were such superior journalists covering their community, why did I learn on ESPN that Mike Shanahan was to be fired, and not from him?
In the end, I've noticed that out-of-work journalists tend to glorify the work they and their papers did, and think they were indispensable. They're not.

Absolutely wonderful job telling the story of how lives are impacted by an economy that continues to tank everytime Obama speaks publically. It's amazing to realize that a year ago, we were above 10,000 and now we're struggling to keep things above 7,000 so that the whole world doesn't fall apart. My how things change with a convention, an inauguration, and a new economic stimulus bill. As a former journalist, my heart bleeds for the RMN. Here's hoping for a miracle for each of you!

Your video is remarkable. I join Shelley McNeill is wishing for a miracle for each of you.
Donna
The State Journal-Register

Very sorry for everyone in the Rocky area. Very touching coverage.

Good luck everyone. The product delivery system may be gone, but the world has an insatiable appetite for content. Your staff was one on of the best around and each and everyone's talents will continue to serve them for whatever is next.

just sad.

Excellent production and storytelling from the storytellers themselves. I think this video is a realistic look at the industry through the eyes of one newspaper and its people. Thank you for putting this out there. I've never seen such an in-depth visual look at the journalism industry and its spiral.

What a beautiful tribute. Very well done!

HEY ROCKY! Don't let the newspaper folding stop you from doing the news!!

This is a wonderful, poignant video, done by professional journalists. Since you now have a large group of talented and motivated news professionals - and, importantly, your IT staff - with some time on your hands...

...you should IMMEDIATELY start a website and KEEP DOING what you've been doing. KEEP asking the hard questions. KEEP chasing the real story.

You're right that in many cases "the bloggers" are not doing the kind of "check it out work" that you are experts at. You're right that there needs to be a local voice. You all can STILL be that voice. You can do the same thing "the bloggers" do. Your barrier to entry is the same as theirs. Nothing stopped them from publishing their voices, and nothing should stop you. Complaining about the bloggers does nothing. Meet them on their own ground, apply your skills and talents, and do the job better.

Yeah I know, it's scary. I've been unemployed for 5 months now and not much prospect for steady work, so believe me I know how you feel. But please, don't let the lack of a giant printing press stop you from doing the news that needs to be done in the way it needs to be done.

Someone above said "hope for a miracle for each of you." I say that's maudlin and a downcast way of looking at it. You are talented, motivated, hard-working journalists. Make the miracle happen yourselves!

I'd bet the Rocky's readers would be overjoyed to help you.

Awesome job! Good luck to all in the NEWS!

I guess that you don't need anyone else telling you how well done that was.

-30-

What a wonderful tribute. I appreciate the list of newsroom names at the end. There are names I recognize from my stint at the Rocky 20 years ago. The newspaper family is something we all can relate to. Today I am feeling the sadness of my Rocky family. Best of luck to Drew Litton, Janet Reeves, Patti Thorne, Marty Meitus, Linda Gregg, Ken Papaleo and the others I had the honor of working with long ago.

Excellent film. I posted the news and link to this video to MetaFilter (tinyurl.com/b4zcye).

a sad day for newspapers.

beautiful yet sad video.
rip rocky mountain news.
here's hoping its the last casualty of print journalism.
vien de les journaux!

Great video! RMN was my paper of choice.

I have watched a lot of newspapers cease to exist in body but never in spirit. I am only afraid that this will end like the poem about the Holocaust... and then they came for me.

Great video. I bet if at least half of you get together and start an online version it will be very successful.

This was an outstanding piece. Your professionalism in the midst of one of your hardest stories to report is unmeasured. I am sorry for the loss of such an important hardworking group of people whose sole purpose was to improve the lives of us all. Thank you for inspiring me everyday to try and be my best. Erik Kellar Visual Managing Editor Naples Daily News and Scipps newspaper.

Simply a wonderfull video. I`m from Argentina, and I can say that from here you can feel all the pain that the workers from the RMN are felling. I hope that someone would have the heart to buy that newspaper. I just want to say congratulations to the producer of this video! amazing. :(

R.I.P., the Rocky...

Amazing video.

Dear Matthew Roberts, Sonya Doctorian, Joe Mahoney, videographers, project editors and news staff: you really did a great job; everyone in that newsroom deserves the respect from all of us. Laura Frank is right: journalism is in our DNA and I felt that she really represented journalists around the world when she said "thank you" to the readers, and "I'm sorry" to all of those who their stories were not going to be publish.
It is interesting how the "murdochs" are able to manage their media for their own concept of freedom of speech and liberty.
Mathew, you captured, edited, and brought to life the most beautiful peace of news ever done about a newspaper, a newsroom and who we are. You have framed the deepest feelings in this sad story. There are no words that can express the job you did and as Joe Mahoney mentioned, on top of that you finishing it last night. It is amazing.
I have no doubts that as Scott mentioned, you are going straight to the biggest awards in journalism. This video is really emotional…
It is sad that a newspaper like the RMN is down. It doesn't make sense at all. Scribbs can't blame all on the Internet.
Jeff Legwold says in your video that there where other avenues to explore, why they didn't? "They don't have to do this. Everybody knows the arithmetic. We get the annual report. Several parts of their company are doing very well. The Rocky had a tough year. They decided to walk away. Basically my feeling is that they quit on us; they quit on everyone in the newsroom" he said.
Why -- as R. Gonzalez says here in this room --, Scribbs did not help all of you to continue with the business through a financial agreement? It is too late to approach this idea? Now that the RMN has been close the sale price can't be the same; maybe there's still a chance to buy it.
You all deserve a better future and I know you all will be blessed every step of the way. Jeff Zugale, above, said the same thing I was thinking: why don’t you put the whole team together online and try to get the advertisers for the online version. Make an electronic design that people can print at home if they want. Nobody can stop you now. Now you have the talent, the time and the will, so why don’t give it a try. Everybody is in the same boat. I can help too.
I've been in this industry since a kid. I’ve been there, I know how the ink smells and I’ve been in that dirt road to nowhere. I know the feeling. Please be strong; the best is yet to come.
A big hug and love to you all. God bless you…. What a great job ….CONGRATULATIONS….
I hope this project will turn into a film to win the greatest awards on Earth.
Chau,
Ruben

Excellent tribute. Thank you. Watching with interest in the Seattle area. I think this video should be used for educational purposes; journalism and business classes.

I am a high school senior and one of two editors in chief of my high school newspaper. I saw the work of the Rocky Mountain News at the Denver NSPA/JEA convention in 2007, and also heard many inspiring speakers, including Jim Sheeler, from the publication, who really presented journalism as an art form. Since then, I've been so inspired by the model of the Rocky Mountain News that, if I were to pursue a career in journalism, I knew I would pursue it with the Rocky...

Obviously, that probably won't happen now but I want to make a commitment in memory of the RMN that its story forms will not be lost. There are people who will remember the Rocky and what it brought to the world of journalism and the world in general -- these people won't settle for less. There are the people from the Rocky who are still here today, who are admired for their tenacity: tenacity as story-tellers, tenacity as journalists, tenacity as individuals that will keep them from letting this truly be the end.

My best wishes to everybody at the RMN. This was very nicely done. I've been thinking about it all day.

But I do have one editing critique. This piece totally should have ended after the credits stopped rolling, as opposed to returning to that woman again at the very end and showing her breaking down. Her point was clearly nailed down earlier when she mentioned that her story of people being laid off would never see the light of day (the story was slated for Saturday). The irony there is palpable.

Matt,

Great video today. Really great. As with everyone, I'm devastated by the loss of the Rocky. It was great working with you and the rest of the multimedia staff over the summer - one of the best and most memorable experiences of my life - and I wish you all the best.

As some commenters have been saying, you should really enter this piece in some competitions; it's good for a resume and would help the Rocky's legacy live on that much more.

-Gabe

This was an amazing video. Well done. I will miss the Rocky soooooooo much. It was by far the best paper online and in print. I will forever miss you!

great video, so sad to see the rocky leave us.

What a wonderful job Matthew & everyone at the Rocky have done on this video, and everything else they have worked on at the RMN. I am a Denver native living in Florida, and have kept up with Denver through this paper for many years. I will miss reading her and hearing your stories. Thanks for all your hard work and many blessings to all of you.

Michele
Fort Walton Beach, FL

Very nicely done, thanks for putting this out there.

very sad for me..i grew up reading this paper...not the POST, definitely the Rocky.

What and incredible and humbling piece. Scripps has lost an amazing paper and its incredibly talented staff. Good luck to you all.

Rich L.
Naples Daily News, Scripps Newspapers

Absolutely beautiful and touching video.It's heartbreaking to see such passionate and talented people get the rug pulled out from underneath them. A month to sell a paper, in these times? They never had a chance and it didn't have to be this way. Got to keep the shareholders happy no matter what the cost to people. Scripps did quit on you and they are wrong for that. Best wishes to all of those on the RMN staff.

It's newspapers now. Will it be radio stations next?

I was in Denver during the DNC and wondered at the time how long any newspaper could last that was housed in a brand new building in the heart of a city's downtown. Now I see in the video that you had the best of the best of office furniture and video walls and technology. What was Scripps thinking? Not that I think you should have been equipped with a wooden chair, a typewriter, and a green eyeshade to protect your eyes from the glare of an incandescent light bulb swinging from the ceiling of a drafty building, but it does seem that something was seriously out of whack with Scripps' priorities. I wish you all the very best for what your futures hold.

3 points:

1. I pray for all those feeling the effects of the closure of RMN today. I too have recently lost jobs and it is not easy, especially when you love what you do so much. Hang in there.

2. Leave the tear in the beer and get back at it. As a couple of the other comments mentioned, get a few of you together, put on your business hats and figure out a model to bring the journalism back. That online paper awaits!

3. Lastly, from a technical standpoint, this film is brilliant. Great story telling with laser focus. But, I can't believe that nobody else brought it up, does anybody else see the irony in the eulogy of a print publication coming from a video that was front and center on the website? This does not take away from the beauty of this work, I just thought it was ironic.

Good luck to all.

This is a great video. I like one question most: "If the rocky is gone who is going to ask the questions?" Because I think in the end journalists and classic newspaper will have to fulfill this task.

I feel very sorry for you! Sad to see. The video is awsome

I have never read an edition of Rocky Mountain News (live in Boston, Massachusetts), however I have to say this is a terrible event. Very sorry to see it happen to you guys...

To the crew who put this video together...seriously...if this was all done in-house, you did an absolutely amazing job.

It seems as though your paper was actually growing with the times, and adapting. Sorry to see that your time was cut short...

My sincere regards, and best wishes to all of you.

Another unique voice speaking of balance, fairness, and news has been silenced by a media conglomerate. "Sad" doesn't quite describe our collective frustration and anger.

Here in Knoxville, we lost the Knoxville Journal about 17 years ago. On the day of the last edition of The Journal, the editor of the Knoxville News-Sentinel wrote an editorial promising that the remaining paper would stand firm, stalwart, and resolute to continue to provide excellent news and balanced coverage of our city. The next day, the News-Sentinel raised the cost of the paper by double, all of the ad rates went up, and the last remaining paper in Knoxville began to thin. It is a shadow of what it once was. Media companies took untold profits from newspapers throughout the 80's and 90's to invest in TV production and cable content. Now, when the print side needs help, they simply shut the newspapers down and walk away. Shame on you Scripps...

Very nicely done. You shot with two cameras? Please tell me about the gear you used.

Sad, and the worst is that it is just the first of a long serie...

Great video, nicely done... great production.

I've always been a Denver Post reader, but even so, this is some of the worst news that's hit our city and our country. We're losing a piece of Denver along with the RMN. Not seeing the RMN next to the DP at any newsstand, DIA or bookstore is heartbreaking. Great video, you are all very talented people and I wish you the very best.

I can't help but admire the piece you made. I'm a New York film/video editor and done my share of documentaries. I really like the judicious use of post effects in story that never leaves it's emotional track. Good work.

Being a reporter in the UK where job cuts are threatening regional newspapers across the country, watching this film is like witnessing a forecast of what to expect here.
Best of luck to The Rocky staff and I hope this film is watched by enough people to realise local news is the heart and soul of the community, and something which should never be lost.

I really really really hated watching this video. To see people so passionate about doing what they do and to see them lose their job...it hurts. As an aspiring journalist, I have been troubled by this fledgling industry. Watching this video didn't help.

But I can say this. This was a well produced video. I am sorry to the city of Denver for their loss, and I pray for everyone that found themselves without a job Saturday.

Thanks for putting this video together and giving me an inside look at an award-winning newspaper. Is there anyway I can acquire a copy of the last paper? If so, please shoot me a message.

Excellent video. The Rocky was home to many great writers. Keep telling your stories.

Amazing video. I am going to miss the Rocky. This video demonstrates the quality of work that the staff of the Rocky Mountain News did.

All that infrastructure, all that history, all those people,,, a serious 'death in the family'. A wonderful tribute witnessing the end of an era for all too many. Thank you for being a thoughtful meticulous storyteller.
condolences & thanks for this one!

Great video! I was referred by a friend who is also employed at a newspaper. As a librarian, I've been watching the developments in the print news and publishing industries with trepidation. Will people be happy with google and the blogosphere once newspapers and books are gone?

Well brother, if you had to go out you went out kicking some visual ass. Nice work, all of you.

ken harper
RMN 2005-2007

Really good.

Posted it on my blog here- brettgundlock.com/blog/

Good luck.

Amazing video and I wish you all the best of luck in the future. Its sad to see things come to an end like this.

Allen
Alberta,Canada

Very good production. Thank you for sharing this on Vimeo :)

Looking forward to what you create next :)

I'm an advocate of new media, of blogs and open-source knowledge bases such as Wikipedia because I believe that, ideally, public participation will breed greater responsibility, because the readership themselves will be personally invested in truth.

The problem is, though, that much of the content on the 'blogosphere' is second-hand, aggregated content that at one time came from a direct-source -- most often, a formally employed journalist. Unfortunately, journalists and bloggers have formulated an irreconcilable dichotomy between themselves: journalists don't trust the public because the public was never formally initiated in journalistic integrity, while on the other hand a public that finally has a hand in its own narrative is quick to resent having it told for them.

Neither side truly recognizes the conflict as an opportunity -- the need to synthesize values, if I might invoke an armchair philosophy. Formal newspapers are trying to run carbon [sic] copies of their dailies on the ethereal web. Bloggers are leading themselves to believe here-say is the standard for reporting. Not all of them, of course, but many, and the readership itself, all the while perpetuating a cultural trend that has been developing since the mid-20th Century, of omitting the justification for our statements and beliefs until we forget it, then concluding that they must therefore be self-justifying. In terms of the news, we're hanging the reporter, wondering why the phone's not ringing, then writing the daily anyway.

On the other side of things, though, people are fed up with news outlets that convey a holier-than-thou attitude about their journalistic integrity and impartiality, then jump right into another Us-Versus-Them tirade (24-hour cable news [entertainment] is the biggest perpetrator). I understand that this isn't a problem in and of itself, that bias is pervasive, that it's not just the columnists and beat writers who have political and moral opinions, and good journalists recognize it and work through it. But now that lines are formally being drawn by the outlets themselves, people are taking sides, and declaring that nobody -- not even the newspaper fellows -- are outside of the spectrum. Then, worst of all, when the day comes when you've grown sick of the petty conflict and just want to read the news, you realize you can no longer see the gray of the page. Just the black and white of the contrasts they've made. There's a reason why it's 'my' paper, and 'the other paper,' and it has little to do with the quality of the Rocky.

The success of the blog poses a conundrum: new media outlets could thrive without any regard for fact-checking, which is obviously unacceptable for a tradition that prides itself on not only the truth, but what makes it true. But then, when journalists raise doubts about the foundations for public opinion -- as Jeff Logwald did briefly in the film -- the public then wonders right back what it was that had made traditional outlets so trustworthy in the first place. For newspapers to survive, they have to exist in an environment where the concept of transparency has been turned away from the news and onto the newsperson. And I hope whole-heartedly that if a paper like the Rocky Mountain finds new life, that it can make the adjustment and survive another century.

My question is this. Most readers of news on the Net get it from local or other great newspapers. If the papers are not there where will the news come from?
Will special sites be established to supply up to date events? If so the reporters, photographers Etc. will have to still be paid. That will mean news sites such as the NY Times, Washington Post, LA Times, BBC News and all others will not be a feed from an actual paper, but from a created Web site. This will mean that those using the the Web will have to be charge for each news outlet. That will mean many in the economic depression will have to be careful and frugal with the sites they can use. This spells disaster to me.
How long before TV news will face the same dilemma? Then what?

I was so moved by this video. After almost 29 years with the same paper, I was pushed to take a buy-out four weeks ago. Since then, I felt like I lost a job. After viewing this excellent video, it has become even more clear to me that I have lost a profession. It is so upsetting to see print journalism collapse at such an alarming rate. I felt I knew each and every person featured at the Rocky Mountain News video. As was stated, we all have the same DNA. I wish there was another outlet for us outcasts. Until there is, all I can do is mourn the loss of a great tradition and extend my sympathies to all the dedicated journalists who have have lost their jobs...no profession. I got off lucky with buy-out money and health insurance. Still, the loss is the same. I cry for the profession and the loss our country's premier watchdog.

All I can ask is why give up on the Rocky?

North Texas feels for you. Good luck to all.

@3:27 "They quit on us. The newspaper quit on us." Sad.

What a remarkable piece of work: poignant, complete, and classy. Including all the names of the newsroom staff was especially touching. Only newspaper folk know how much of a community a newsroom can be. Good luck to all of you

Great video. kudos.

Congratulations for this remarkable documentary. The audio and video editing is awesome. The swing of the interviews is fluent and soft, even though the subject is so sad. I also congratulate you for the screenplay because the environment after such a horrible anouncement is usually fulfilled of anger, rage, protest and revenge. I prefer this way of relate facts because it reminds me the way native islanders around the world transmit their tribal history for the next generations in a oral tradition: you 'broadcast' the ancient culture in a circle talking with the young members of your community only relating the good things you missed about the past. Despite nobody can forget about the incertainty of the future after unemployment, the problems are not the main focus of this kind of conversation.

so sad, good luck to all of you

Great job by the video team on this piece! Everyday journalists cover someone else's story with heart and emotion, but I feel like most newspaper closings have just been headlines and business briefs on a few industry blogs. Thanks for putting some soul into this one and for documenting such an important part of news history.

very well put together video

A great video, about a sad moment.
Newspapers tell sad stories everyday: that's (also) our job. Rocky died. Another Rocky will emerge.

Newsroom centric. I know they had a JOA, but other folks will lose their jobs too.

So boo-hoo for the out-of-touch newsers and their self-serving whine fest.

I wonder how many videos they did like this when they were alive?

Very informative piece...Really sad to hear.

A beautifully produced piece, for sure. Touching, moving. I wish I had the time and resources to produce video like that at my newspaper.

"Final Edition" poses some important questions but it also wags a finger at old newspaper scapegoats like Craigslist and blogs which is disingenuous at best. Newspapers threw their weight around because they dominated markets and set terms. They couldn't admit a different new model was possible until they were already obsolete.

There is a lot of crying and gnashing of teeth about what is being lost and not a lot of insight about what's next. Reporting isn't dead. Fact checking isn't passe. As a newspaper employee I want to talk about what's NEXT. The typographic era is coming to a close and we will lose some elements of our culture for sure. But everything dies. At some point you have to put away the mourner's clothes and move on.

Helluva piece, I had some good friends at the Rocky

Great clip ... I used to live in Denver but am now a staff writer at the Daily Globe in Ironwood, Mich., a small six-day daily on the Wisconsin border a few minutes from Lake Superior.

I miss Colorado, but I'll miss the RMN more. This clip was heart wrenching ... hard to take a much too close to home.

As a VISTA volunteer I was honored to have a story about literacy in the RMN. I loved the feel of it and enjoyed every issue. If anyone out there can sell me a copy of the last print edition let me know. I will pay the price of the paper, postage and whatever else within reason.

Please contact me at journalblog@charter.net

Eric Hjerstedt Sharp

Sell ads on IwantMyRocky.com and trounce the Denver Post, I will NEVER buy a

(continued)

Denver Post or any other SH paper

Can anyone send me a final edition of the RMN?

contact me at journalblog@charter.net