On the day his newspaper published its final edition, Rocky Mountain News editor John Temple advised a gathering of journalists in Denver to focus on local news and suggested creating online content that niche audiences might pay for.
“It’s not realistic to think in this day and age that people are going to have one information source and you’re going to be it,” Temple told the Colorado Press Association convention. “. . . If you’re not experimenting, then I think you’re in trouble.”
He said the news still matters to people and he’s “not pessimistic about the future of journalism.”
Mike Simonton, a bond analyst at Fitch Ratings, said a number of other newspapers could close by the end of 2010, and those that survive will be focused on local contact with smaller staffs and less printed content.
