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KOPEL: We'll lose more than a paper

By Dave Kopel, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published February 27, 2009 at 12:05 a.m.

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Farewell, my Rocky. You've been part of my life ever since I was 8 years old, when I started reading you to follow the 1968 presidential election and campaign of my hero Robert Kennedy.

You were part of my family even before I was born, from the early 1950s when my father was your notoriously tough copy editor. It's a good thing you were around then, since he had lost any chance to work for The Denver Post - having written a scathing editorial about the Bonfils family back when he was the editor of the University of Colorado campus newspaper.

You were born during the administration of James Buchanan, in a nation on the brink of a war of secession over slavery. You lasted all the way until the inauguration of the first black president. That's an awfully long time. You survived the Panic of 1873, the Panic of 1893, the Great Depression, the booms and busts of Colorado's resource-based economy, and innumerable newspaper wars. But even a cat with more than nine lives eventually runs out.

In retrospect, the 1990s and the early 21st century were a golden age for the Rocky and the Post. The papers were much better than they had been in the '60s and '70s. In the '90s they fought Denver's last great newspaper war, and put lots of resources into great reporting and writing. In the new century, the joint operating agreement allowed the papers to do even more.

I hope that every one of the Rocky's loyal readers takes out a subscription to the Post, because a city with one major daily is a lot better than a city with none at all.

Unfortunately, the demise of the Rocky is more than a 50 percent diminution in newspaper quality in Denver. There's the direct loss of the stories which the Rocky covered and the Post didn't, or which the Rocky investigated thoroughly and the Post only superficially. But there's also the less visible loss of how competition with the Rocky has made the Post a better paper throughout all of that paper's own venerable history. Having two newspapers is more than twice as good as having just one, because each newspaper spurs the other to better work.

One common dictum of why the Internet is killing newspapers is that "Free is not a business model." Papers may gain readers by publishing for free on the Internet, but they lose subscription revenue. The explanation is only half-accurate. "Free" actually has been a perfectly good model for broadcast television. And when you're reading a print newspaper, it's pretty hard to escape that full-page ad from Macy's/Foley's/May D&F/Daniels & Fisher (as the department store has variously been named over the Rocky's history).

Compared to a print ad, an advertisement on a newspaper Web site is only about one- tenth as effective, in terms of converting viewers into customers for the advertiser. So advertising rates are lower.

There are folks who say "I don't need newspapers. I just read the Internet." Well, if all you want to do is read opinion, the Internet today provides a wealth of high-quality, well- written opinion. Yet, in the long run, those opinion writers are dependent on news reporters.

With the Rocky gone tomorrow - and the Post perhaps gone within two years - who is going to report the news in Denver? The TV and radio stations only report a fraction of the number of stories that go into a daily newspaper, and the reporting is much less detailed than what's in the papers.

It's possible to have a republic without newspapers. But we've never done it in America, and there's no guarantee that we'll succeed at doing it.

Whatever the future brings, I'm very grateful for my eight years with the Rocky. No other major newspaper in the United States has opened itself up to weekly criticism from a paid columnist. Never have the editors suppressed one of my stories. The editors have helped me become a better, more precise writer. I hope the columns have helped readers become more discerning consumers of media.

Thank you, Rocky. You were a great newspaper, and we'll miss you forever.

Dave Kopel is research director at the Independence Institute, an attorney and author of 11 books. He has been a media critic at the Rocky Mountain News since 2001.

Comments

  • February 27, 2009

    8:08 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    navymom writes:

    Mr. Kopel, you are absolutely correct on the advertising aspect. I for one do not look at a single ad online unless it is an obnoxious pop up. I only look long enough to find the x to close it.

    I love to pick up an actual newspaper and hold it in my hands to read. I will miss the RMN and the online discourse with my friends and adversaries.

  • February 27, 2009

    8:22 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    oofda writes:

    Dave, how about your same judgement on OJ you spit out over and over. The system worked justice was served. @ss

  • February 27, 2009

    8:26 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    DougH writes:

    Dave, Always enjoyed your saturday column. Maybe Westword will give you some space. Always thought that you were about the only conservative that made any sense. You were the true voice of reason. Hope to read your work somewhere down the road.

  • February 27, 2009

    8:29 a.m.

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    Ottis writes:

    The Post gone within two years? Is that speculation or do you have attribution for that?

  • February 27, 2009

    8:30 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    DougH writes:

    oofda, why would you want to prove to the world that you have absolutely no class. Today is not the time to be spreading venom. Quit embarrassing your parents and act like you were brought up bettor than that.

  • February 27, 2009

    8:40 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    oofda writes:

    dough maybe so, but he was a piece of work during the OJ trial. I am old now and I cant let it go. but FYA

  • February 27, 2009

    10:52 a.m.

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    DougH writes:

    oofda, I guess I need not be quite so snarky myself. Being an old guy as well, I know there are certain things that just stick with you. Best

  • February 27, 2009

    2:23 p.m.

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    peterpi writes:

    I'm an unreconstructed bleeding-heart liberal, but I loved reading Dave Kopel's column, Mike Rosen's, George Will's. We need to hear differing voices, differing opinions.
    This column is spot on. A one- or no-newspaper town has fewer eyes and ears out to cover news. Has less incetive to find things out.
    Westword often does good jurnalism, but when they cover one main story an issue, that's not covering much. They never intended themselves to cover things like a daily does.
    Good luck to you, Mr. Kopel.

  • February 28, 2009

    1:27 a.m.

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    Proudmale writes:

    I am an unabashed Conservitive and I disagree that having the Post survive will serve the best interests of the Metro Area. Look at the Post's endorsements and you will find where the heart of that newspaper lies.

    There is a reason many of us had for subsribing to the Rocky that had nothing to do with the size of the paper. Rather it had to do with the top to bottom leftword tilt of the Post.

    With the Post as the sole remaining daily in the Denver area, this LIBERAL BIAS will become an ever greater problem. If you feel comfortable having this paper indoctrinate the populace then by all means subscribe to the Post.

    I have already cancelled my subscribtion and encourage others to do so. If we can get the retention rate substantially below 80% it will cause them problems with their bankers.

    I am no right wing kook. I was the Central Area Vice President for the Jefferson County PTA for 2 years, and my Elementry Schools PTA President for 4 years -- that qualifies as involved.

  • March 2, 2009

    11:11 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    davekopel writes:

    Oofda,
    Like so many of the nasty commenters on the newspaper websites, you are not only obnoxious, you are either extremely stupid, or are so recklessly ignorant of the facts that the result is no different than if you were extremely stupid. The O.J. Simpson murder prosecution was 1994-95. I started writing my column for the Rocky Mountain News in 2001. Fortunately, the vast majority of newspaper readers are much classier than you.
    Dave Kopel

  • March 2, 2009

    10:54 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    Proudmale writes:

    Dave, I see that you are still posting to this site. Why do you feel that having a liberal leaning paper is better than not having a daily driveway delivered paper at all.

    I believe that the bankruptcy of the Post would create a new marketplace that would be served by a multitude of voices which would gradually go down towards a few quality delivery providers.

    I suspect it would be some sort of fee based internet provider. For example for around $24 per year I can get all of the current as well as historical consumer reports publications. I gave up the comfort of the paper in my hand for the superior ability to find information from several different tests over a period of years. The online kicks the stuffing out of the old magazine based format that so many are still tied to.

    Just remember, the loss of the Post would not mean a permanent vacuam, rather, a temporary opportunity to move to a more balanced set of providers.

    Lloyd