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Efforts to sell Rocky could extend into next week

By David Milstead, Rocky Mountain News (Contact), Jeff Smith, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published January 15, 2009 at 12:05 a.m.

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SPECIAL SECTION » The Rocky Mountain News is for sale. On December 4, 2008, E.W. Scripps, the owner of Colorado’s oldest newspaper, said if a buyer does not step forward it will pursue other options – including closure.

Click to read stories about the sale, and see what other news outlets have been saying about the paper since the announcement.

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E.W. Scripps, owner of the Rocky Mountain News, said Wednesday its attempts to sell the newspaper could stretch beyond Friday into at least next week.

In the meantime, unions representing workers at The Denver Post and Denver Newspaper Agency have been examining the agency's financial statements, after being asked by MediaNews CEO Dean Singleton to agree to concessions by Friday.

All parties are struggling for solutions as the newspaper industry, both in Denver and nationally, continues its steep decline. Newspaper revenue here and in other major metro areas has fallen by double digits, and Scripps and MediaNews are losing millions of dollars each quarter on the Rocky and the Post.

The two companies halted their newspaper war in 2001, forming a joint operating agreement that allowed them to combine business operations while maintaining separate and competitive newsrooms.

When Scripps announced its plans to sell the Rocky on Dec. 4, it said it "intended to entertain offers through mid-January" for the paper and would examine other options "if no acceptable offers emerge in the course of that period."

That's led to local speculation that the Rocky's last day of publication could be Saturday.

In a statement released late Wednesday to the Rocky, Scripps said it's asking interested parties to submit their bids for the newspaper by the close of business on Friday.

"Any bids will be carefully evaluated as quickly as possible, but there's no specific timetable for completing that process," said spokesman Tim King.

King would say only that "a handful" of potential buyers have requested the information packet that Scripps prepared for a potential Rocky sale, but he said that packets were still being sent out last week. He would not say whether Scripps already had received what it considered an "expression of interest."

Days after Scripps' announcement, Singleton requested $18 million of concessions from the agency and $2 million from the Post newsroom.

Newspaper agency officials followed with a letter saying they needed new labor contracts to be concluded by Jan. 16 so the agency could attempt to renegotiate $130 million of debt.

But little progress has been made and no substantial contract negotiations, union representatives said.

The Communications Workers of America, which represents three of the six agency unions, just started looking at the agency books on Tuesday and hasn't made a decision on whether to reopen contract talks.

Teamsters, which represents two unions, has looked at the books, and Local 961 business agent John Hennelly said a bargaining team will begin discussions with DNA officials today. A sixth union, a small platemakers union, has refused to participate in the process.

Agency spokesman Jim Nolan has declined repeatedly to comment on why the debt needs to be renegotiated and whether the Friday deadline is firm. "I have no news for you on deadlines or otherwise," he said Wednesday.

Union officials also have said they haven't been told why the loan, which has a favorable interest rate and isn't due until October 2010, must be renegotiated.

In December, agency officials warned the unions that the agency "will have to consider all options available to it" if it failed to win the concessions.

Finance Editor David Milstead can be reached at milstead@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-2648.

Comments

  • January 15, 2009

    10:53 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    LOUIE writes:

    I really hope this pulls through; I would miss having the Rocky to read an view the various comments. The Post isn't my cup of tea, and it's also struggling with debt. Can you imagine just the Post or perhaps no newspaper in Denver? Imagine if all we had to read was the Boulder Camera (Scripps), or the Gazette, or another off the wall paper? That goes beyond imagination to the realm of a nightmare! Whether you like the political atmosphere of the Rocky or not, to lose it would be a real loss. I'm somewhat conservative, but I like to know and read other opinions other than my own, especially some of the debates that have been in the comments section that acually taught me quite a bit. I hope...

  • January 15, 2009

    11:49 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    mytwosense writes:

    Louie, I agree. Even thought I'm a lefty, I've long preferred the RMN for many of the same reasons. In fact, this is the only Internet forum I post on.

    I wish the RMN well, and do hope they can continue. I can't help but wonder, though, if their transition to the Internet did them more harm than good. For that matter, all the print organizations that are trying to compete with Internet media outlets.

    Frankly, I think they should stick to print. People still like to read in the traditional format, but have no incentive to buy the RMN print version when they can get it for free online.

  • January 15, 2009

    12:06 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    HopiMedicineMan writes:

    "The Communications Workers of America, which represents three of the six agency unions, just started looking at the agency books on Tuesday and hasn't made a decision on whether to reopen contract talks."

    Now we know why there've no serious offers, an unserious union is holding up the survival of this paper and the paychecks of the membership.

  • January 15, 2009

    12:15 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    HopiMedicineMan writes:

    Mytwosense
    May I call you "My"? Is that your first name? Or do you prefer Ms. Twosense? Can we be on a first name basis?

    My,
    I believe you've hit a nerve. If the Rocky had remained off the Internet, more would be forced to subscribe and the Post would be losing subscribers to the Internet.

  • January 15, 2009

    1:07 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    MavrickG writes:

    PRINT IS DEAD. They should stop wasting paper and go 100% digital. They might actually sell more advertising space and have bigger readership if their writing didn't lean so far left.

  • January 15, 2009

    1:10 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    AC writes:

    HopiMedicineMan writes: ""The Communications Workers of America, which represents three of the six agency unions, just started looking at the agency books on Tuesday and hasn't made a decision on whether to reopen contract talks." Now we know why there've no serious offers, an unserious union is holding up the survival of this paper and the paychecks of the membership."

    Hopi, read the story again. The CWA issue isn't with the News... the union isn't looking at the RMN books. The CWA is dealing with Singleton, the Post owner, and the newspaper agency, not the RMN.

  • January 15, 2009

    1:16 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    MavrickG writes:

    Why would you want to buy this newspaper and deal with a union anyways. You would be better off spending your cash to start a brand new digital newspaper. Less overhead and if you really want the RMN name just wait till they go BK and get the name on the cheap.

  • January 15, 2009

    1:53 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    Barbarosa writes:

    This is all well and good, but I'm afraid it's giving us all false hope. It's pretty obvious that this paper is dead as a doornail. Sad, but true.

  • January 15, 2009

    2:05 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    davies writes:

    I also lament the apparently imminent demise, and (for once) I offer no other particular opinion.

    I guess when the RMN shuts down, maybe I'll head over to the Post or try the Gazette, and hope to still hear from some of the more civil and/or funny commenters (Louie, mytwosense, buffsblg, iron and of course that cyberhotty Heidi) again.

    :-(

  • January 15, 2009

    5:41 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    geezlouise writes:

    Don't believe a word Scripps says. Those suits fed the Albuquerque Tribune staff the same bilge and kept those folks dangling for six months before the inevitable ax came down. Scripps now believes that silly TV shows on HGTV and Food Network are far more important (and lucrative) than news. They have sold out, throwing good journalists like those at the Tribune and the Rocky in the trash.