Subject: Rich Boehne

• Rocky Mountain News put up for sale

  It's the sort of headline most media observers in this area have been anticipating for quite some time, but it's still a shock to see it in print: "Rocky Mountain News For Sale." The article, published moments ago on the Rocky's website, quotes from a press release in which Rich Boehne, president and CEO of E.W. Scripps, the paper's parent company, is quoted as saying, "The decision to seek a buyer for the Rocky would have been unthinkable until very recently. But the operating conditions hav

  December 4, 2008

• The Rocky Mountain News' John Temple on the alleged closure meeting

  The current Westword includes a feature article about the Rocky Mountain News, which was recently put up for sale, as well as a sidebar about the marquee Rocky talent most likely to leap to the Denver Post in the event of a closure and a look into the mysteries of the joint-operating agreement that connects the Rocky and the Post. To supplement that coverage, we're offering a series of outtakes and supplementary material that's just as interesting as the stuff that made the final cut. First u

  December 10, 2008

• E.W. Scripps CEO Rich Boehne on his company's commitment to newspapers

  As is the case with all articles, plenty of interesting stuff gathered for Westword's December 11 feature about the dire circumstances facing the Rocky Mountain News and sidebars focusing on Rocky writers who the Denver Post should try to hire and the joint-operating agreement between the Rocky and the Post was left on the cutting-room floor. Examples include the Rocky's John Temple disputing MediaNews Group leader and Denver Post publisher Dean Singleton's memory of a meeting that preceded th

  December 10, 2008

• See the video of the Rocky Mountain News for-sale announcement

  The opening section of Westword's main article about the plight of the Rocky Mountain News, mentions a video of the announcement in the tabloid's newsroom featuring E.W. Scripps CEO Rich Boehne and John Temple, the Rocky's editor, publisher and president. Click above to witness this painful yet inevitable moment for yourself. -- Michael Roberts

  December 10, 2008

• The Westword.com blog shortcut, December 10 edition

  It's beginning to feel a lot like blog roundup time. Today in Backbeat Online: • Twelve things every Wu-Tang Clan fan should own. • Mile High Makeout: Dreaming of me. • An extremely entertaining Q&A with Ryan Hendrix of Colourmusic. • Rap Up: Whygee and Sunken State unite for a free EP. • Born in the Flood will preview its new album on Friday at the Bluebird Theater. Today in Cafe Society: • Grilling in a winter wonderland. • Robert Thompson is headed back to Denver. • Strana

  December 10, 2008

• Rocky Mountain News gets temporary reprieve

  Yesterday's blog headlined "The Latest From the Rocky Mountain News Grapevine About the Paper's Future" noted that the E.W. Scripps-owned tabloid had reported very little about its potential sale since December 24. That changed this morning with the publication of "Efforts to Sell Rocky Could Extend Into Next Week," an informative and evenhanded update credited to David Milstead and Jeff Smith. The piece confirms a comment posted on the aforementioned More Messages blog -- that Scripps would a

  January 15, 2009

• Rocky Mountain News' John Temple deems KOA's alleged Scripps scoop "BS"

  When he arrived at his office yesterday, Rocky Mountain News editor/publisher/president John Temple was greeted by an e-mail letting him know about a report from KOA radio claiming that executives from E.W. Scripps, the paper's owner, which put it up for sale last month, would be arriving in the next 24 to 48 hours to announce its fate. Temple's answer to this note was two words long: "It's bullshit." Temple wasn't quite so plainspoken in his January 17 column, headlined "Learning Lessons in

  January 21, 2009

• Leaked letter reveals deep problems at Denver Post, Denver Newspaper Agency

  The story about the possible sale of the Rocky Mountain News by its owner, E.W. Scripps, continues to evolve in unexpected and fascinating ways -- and many of the developments have come to our attention via the Rocky 's own reporting. Case in point: Today's article "Scripps says Post Violates JOA" by business writer extraordinaire David Milstead (pictured). The piece is built around a letter signed by Scripps CEO Rich Boehne (the subject of a recent More Messages blog) and fellow exec Mark Co

  January 28, 2009

• The Denver Post's fiery response to charge that it violated JOA with the Rocky Mountain News

  "Leaked Letter Reveals Deep Problems at Denver Post, Denver Newspaper Agency," a More Messages blog published this morning, considers the content of "Scripps Says Post Violated JOA," a David Milstead-penned piece from today's Rocky Mountain News. The article's centerpiece is a letter purportedly written by Rich Boehne and Mark Contreras, a pair of executives for E.W. Scripps, the Rocky's owner. The missive claims, among other things, that the Post borrowed $13 million from the Denver Newspaper

  January 28, 2009

• More cost-cutting measures at E.W. Scripps

  Rich Boehne of E.W. Scripps. As word broke about six major layoffs at the Denver Post, media observers were getting their first chance to digest a memo from Rich Boehne, CEO of E.W. Scripps, which owns the Rocky Mountain News. In the note, Boehne announces salary cuts for supervisors at Scripps publications nationwide, plus the end of 401(k) matches, pension freezes and more. Signs of the times are being erected at a dizzying pace, aren't they? Click "Continue" to read Boehne's memo.

  February 18, 2009

• Could the Rocky Mountain News spend another month-plus in limbo?

  Anyone hoping for quick answers from an E.W. Scripps conference call held this morning (and noted previously in the blog "Rocky Mountain News Editor John Temple on the Paper's Future: 'We Have No Idea'") wound up disappointed. As detailed in typically complete fashion by Rocky business scribe David Milstead, the chat for investors and Wall Street types, which featured Scripps CEO Rich Boehne, did intersperse some local updates amid dismal overall figures (Scripps' revenues fell 6.2 percent in

  February 19, 2009

• Rocky Mountain News' John Temple on whether or not this week will be "boxless"

  John Temple. At staff meetings he's held on Thursdays since the December announcement that the Rocky Mountain News had been put up for sale by its owner, E.W. Scripps, John Temple, the paper's editor, publisher and president, has frequently reassured his staff that a given week would be "boxless" -- meaning that employees wouldn't need to bring in boxes in order to clear out their desks. Last Thursday, however, Temple didn't use the boxless line -- and its absence was felt amid the week's devel

  February 23, 2009

• Friday's Rocky Mountain News will be the last

  The Rocky reported its own demise on its Web site around noon today. It's official: Denver is a one-daily town. The Rocky Mountain News has announced that tomorrow's edition will be the last. From the Rocky's story: The Rocky Mountain News, less than two months away from its 150th anniversary, will be closed after a search for a buyer proved unsuccessful, the E.W. Scripps Co. announced today. "Today the Rocky Mountain News, long the leading voice in Denver, becomes a victim of changing times

  February 26, 2009

• At the Rocky Mountain News' headquarters as word of its impending closure breaks

  Photo by Michael Roberts.The Denver Newspaper Agency building, with the Denver Post's logo prominently displayed. Around noon today, the lobby of the Denver Newspaper Agency building was populated mainly by reporters and photographers from other news organizations, hoping to get some info on the big news of the day: E.W. Scripps' announcement that the Rocky Mountain News' last edition would hit driveways and newsboxes tomorrow. Not that there was a lot of scoop to get. The primary representativ

  February 26, 2009

• Highlights from the goodbye-to-the-Rocky Mountain News press conference

  J. KnightE.W. Scripps CEO Rich Boehne addresses the media after announcing the Rocky would close after Friday's issue. Reporter Lynn Bartels's colleagues at the Rocky Mountain News warned her not to try exiting the Denver Newspaper Agency building through the main lobby. After all, the place was swarming with reporters gathered to attend an upcoming press conference at which E.W. Scripps CEO Rich Boehne -- and, as it turned out, quite a few other executive types -- was going to explain why his

  February 26, 2009

• Will advertising rates for the Denver Post be going up?

  Dean Singleton delivers. During yesterday's press conference announcing the closing of the Rocky Mountain News, MediaNews Group boss Dean Singleton, whose firm owns the Denver Post, declared that the ad rates at his publication are "way below" the national average, but "they'll just have to stay that way" for now, due to the current economic climate. This remark suggested that rates wouldn't rise, and a letter from the Denver Newspaper Agency to advertisers confirms it -- sort of. Charges won't

  February 27, 2009

• John Temple turns down E.W. Scripps job offer

  Photo by J. Knight.John Temple at the February 26 press conference announcing the impending closure of the Rocky Mountain News. The months between the December announcement that the Rocky Mountain News had been put up for sale and word that it would be shutting down for good last week were filled with more surprises than press observers predicted -- and the aftermath of its shuttering hasn't been wholly predictable, either. Prime example: Instead of taking a job with former Rocky owner E.W. Scr

  March 3, 2009

• Q&A with David Milstead about the death of the Rocky Mountain News and the future of the Denver Post

  David Milstead. The most dogged and enterprising journalist to write about the Rocky Mountain News' closure saga came from the Rocky's own newsroom. Business columnist and reporter David Milstead broke story after story. For example, he unearthed a confidential letter from executives at E.W. Scripps, the Rocky's former owner, revealing that the Denver Post borrowed $13 million from the Denver Newspaper Agency to fund its newsroom -- but the DNA couldn't repeat this feat because banks wouldn't l

  March 4, 2009

• Harry Whipple out as head of Denver Newspaper Agency

  Harry Whipple. The only surprise in yesterday afternoon's announcement that Harry Whipple would no longer be in charge of the Denver Newspaper Agency was the identity of his successor: former Denver Post publisher Gerald Grilly, who's coming out of retirement to take the gig. Indeed, the February 26 press conference announcing that the Rocky Mountain News would shut down the next day provided graphic evidence of Whipple's fading power. Instead of appearing on the stage at the Denver Newspaper A

  March 5, 2009

• Texas investor Brian Ferguson plans bid for Rocky Mountain News assets

  The cover of the final Rocky Mountain News. At the February 26 press conference announcing the imminent closing of the Rocky Mountain News, E.W. Scripps CEO Rich Boehne announced that the Rocky website and archives were for sale. Now, a credible bidder is stepping forward to announce his interest in the journalistic treasure trove: Texas-based investor Brian Ferguson. According to him, "We're in the process of developing a proposal to acquire the assets of the Denver Publishing Company, which o

  March 12, 2009

• After the Rocky taps out, the Post acts like it won by a knockout

  March 5, 2009

• A fifty-cent Red Rocks fee will help Denver Mountain Parks

  January 15, 2009

• The Rocky Mountain News is going down

  December 11, 2008

• Denver's JOA makes for muddy reading

  December 11, 2008

• Don't Bogart That Joint

  It's our turn to take a hit off the Post/News merger.

  May 18, 2000

• Off Limits

  March 11, 1999

• E.W. Scripps, former Rocky Mountain News employees finally reach severance agreement

  E.W. Scripps chairman Rich Boehne alongside his company's logo. According to Mel Pomponio, the Denver Newspaper Guild chair for the Rocky Mountain News, former staffers of the shuttered tabloid will no longer be employed by E.W. Scripps, the Rocky's owner, after today. It's fortunate, then, that a severance package under negotiation for nearly two months, is finally complete. This evening, impacted workers are gathering at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers union hall on Logan

  April 27, 2009

• Rocky Mountain News archives going to Denver Public Library

  E.W. Scripps, the former parent company of the Rocky Mountain News, has just issued a press release confirming information that's been circulating for a few weeks: the archives of the tabloid, which died just shy of its 150th birthday, will be preserved by the Denver Public Library. In addition, other historical paraphernalia has been earmarked for preservation by the Colorado Historical Society. This material is separate from the Rocky's intellectual property: the name, its web address and s

  June 8, 2009