Of the two Denver dailies, the Rocky Mountain News is the one that's likeliest to use its press for self-promotion. Witness Rocky editor/publisher/president John Temple's Saturday column, which pays tribute to the tabloid's greatness on an extremely regular basis. Today, however, the Denver Post took this often tacky tack to its logical conclusion in regard to a story about an advertising and business consortium that will link 176 American newspapers, including the Post and the Rocky, with Yahoo! The Rocky ran an article on the deal, too, but wisely kept the matter in proportion by describing it in the business section. In contrast, the Post placed its effort in an extremely prominent page one position, and turned it into a valentine to Dean Singleton, owner of (yep) the Denver Post.

Don't get me wrong. The pact was worthy of coverage -- and it's also a smart move for the participating daily newspapers, since it allows them to join forces with a web giant rather than waste their time fighting it for hits and ad revenue. That doesn't make it one of the day's most vital items, though: not even close. The Post-ies who put the piece in this slot may have made points with their superiors, but betcha the average reader didn't greet it with a cry of "Yahoo!" -- Michael Roberts