Finding out how many papers have died during this period has proven to be extremely challenging. We contacted organizations such as the National Newspaper Association, the News Media Alliance and the Pew Research Center and learned that none of them track this information or have assembled such a list.
The closest thing to a roster of this sort that we were able to find online is a Wikipedia page devoted to "Defunct Newspapers of the United States." But the data on it proved to be woefully inconsistent and only occasionally listed dates for final publication, making our goal of creating a definitive run-down impossible. Our best guess is that the following 37 publications, whose demises we were able to confirm (they include Denver's Rocky Mountain News, which shut down in February 2009), represent the tip of the iceberg.
At present, most major U.S. cities still have a daily newspaper, and that's likely to remain the case in Denver for the foreseeable future. How long it'll be called the Denver Post is another question. In recent days, a group led by Colorado Springs publisher John Weiss has gone public with efforts to line up deep-pocket types interested in buying the Post from Alden. But the local billionaire with the greatest interest in newspapers, Phil Anschutz, may have an alternate plan. Several years ago, Anschutz's former right-hand man told ex-reporter turned Denver City Council member Kevin Flynn that his boss planned to wait until the Post hit bottom, then purchase its assets, shut it down and resurrect the Rocky as a non-union paper.
Don't count out the Post, though. Editorial-page editor Chuck Plunkett, the mastermind behind the insurrectionist columns that made national headlines (and served as Weiss's inspiration), as well as editor Lee Ann Colacioppo, who supported his efforts when others in her position might have folded like a card table, show that there's plenty of fight left in the journalists who remain at the paper. Still, there's no doubt they're currently involved in a risky game, and the stakes for the Post are life and death.
Continue to see the aforementioned list of newspapers that have folded since 2000, illustrated by photos from the press conference announcing the Rocky's demise.
A plaque commemorating the joint operating agreement that involved the Rocky Mountain News and the Denver Post, photographed in 2009.
Photo by J. Knight
The Spotlight
Died in 2001
Alabama:
The Hoover Gazette
Died in 2007
The Birmingham Post-Herald
Died in 2005
Alaska:
Insurgent49
Died in 2006
Arizona:
Tucson Citizen
Died in 2014
California:
Alameda Times-Star
Died in 2011
The Argus (Fremont)
Died in 2016
The Hayward Daily Review
Died in 2016
Hokubei Mainichi
Died in 2009
Napa Sentinel
Died in 2011
Nichi Bei Times
Died in 2009
North Country Times
Died in 2012
Oakland Tribune
Died in 2016
San Francisco Bay Guardian
Died in 2014
Former reporter Lynn Bartels meeting the press at the announcement of the paper's closure. Bartels is currently the spokesperson for the Colorado Secretary of State's Office.
Photo by J. Knight
The Rocky Mountain News
Died in 2009
Florida:
Boca Raton News
Died in 2009
Georgia:
The Daily Sun
Died in 2003
Hawaii:
Honolulu Weekly
Died in 2013
Molokai Island Times
Died in 2008
Illinois:
The Post Amerikan
Died in 2004
Indiana:
The Hagerstown Exponent
Died in 2004
The Paper (Elkhart)
Died in 2000
Maryland:
The Cumberland Times-News
Died in 2009
The Owings Mill Times
Died in 2006
The Baltimore Examiner
Died in 2009
Massachusetts:
The Boston Phoenix
Died in 2013
Editorial Humor
Died in 2003
A tribute to freedom of the press in the Denver Post building, as photographed in 2009.
Photo by J. Knight
The Heartland Messenger
Died in 2008
New Hampshire:
The Citizen (Laconia)
Died in 2010
New Mexico:
Albuquerque Tribune
Died in 2008
New York:
The New York Sun
Died in 2008
The Syracuse Herald-Journal
Died in 2001
Ohio:
The Cincinnati Post
Died in 2007
Pennsylvania:
America (Philadelphia)
Died in 2013
Rhode Island:
Providence Phoenix
Died in 2014
Virginia:
The News & Messenger
Died in 2012
Wisconsin:
The Green Bay News-Chronicle
Died in 2005
