Tale of a Daily Newspaper Odd Couple

The Daily dialed down the radicalism when Talbott took over as editor in 1986, becoming a widely accepted staple of the community. But by the dawn of the millennium, money had become a major issue, and a former finance director who embezzled an estimated $250,000, and perhaps even more, pushed the paper to the brink of collapse. Miller rescued it with his purchase and successfully fought off attempts by the Camera to undermine the operation, including its launch of the late, unlamented dirt, an entertainment-oriented freebie aimed at college students — still the Daily's core audience. But when Scripps offered to buy him out in 2005, he took the deal, and since then, the longtime adversaries have embarked on a love match. When Manzi joined the scene in 2006, he combined as many business, circulation and production functions of the papers as possible, and even talked about sharing editorial content. The latter hasn't really happened yet, and that's fine by Childers, who'd rather the Daily come up with its own material. But he's grateful for the Camera personnel who helped the Daily redesign its website. With the exception of color schemes, the two papers' sites look mighty similar these days.

Even so, both Manzi and Childers stress that the Camera and the Daily will continue to operate independently, with employees reporting to newsrooms by separate entrances once the big move happens; because relocation isn't slated to take place until after the Daily's building is leased, there's no firm ETA. Likewise, Manzi maintains that fans of the Daily shouldn't view the shift as evidence that the paper is on its way to becoming, for instance, a supplement to the Camera as opposed to a stand-alone entity. "The Daily is a niche publication that's free, portable and everywhere," he says. "And those kinds of products are doing very well right now."

In contrast, traditional daily newspapers across the country are struggling. With so many firms leaving open positions unfilled, there's no shortage of space at places like the Rocky Mountain News and the Denver Post, and while Denver Newspaper Agency spokesman Jim Nolan says there are no plans to rent any of it out to other businesses as of now, that certainly could change as even more employees opt for other careers.

Talbott is a prime example. He says a major factor in his decision to leave his job as Camera editorial-page editor in favor of the publications-coordinator gig at CU's College of Arts and Sciences had to do with "the status of public discourse right now. It was disheartening to see how irrational and unhinged a lot of our discussions about public issues have become." But the 45-year-old concedes that the journalism industry's predicament also played a part. "Those of us who aren't terribly close to retirement age have to think about things like long-term financial security," he notes.

The Daily, which turns 116 in September, faces the same issues — which is why its once-despised rival now looks like a pretty good roommate.