The Rocky's 'Final Edition'

Final Edition from Matthew Roberts on Vimeo.

The decision to put the Rocky Mountain News up for sale was made two months ago.

That day, Laura Frank, an investigative reporter at the Rocky, observed the following:

"That was a difficult and shocking announcement. And do you know what the reaction of so many people in the newsroom was? To whip out a notebook and a pen and start taking notes. Now a few of us were writing about it, but not all of us. But that's what we do. It's in our DNA."

As has been said before on this site, we understand and admire that journalists have this sense of service, and these ethical boundaries that keep them from helping themselves. At every turn newspaper people are focused on serving the readers.

We also understand and admire why journalists are averse to signing petitions.

So we ask that you do the next best thing.

Do the thing you're best at.

Pass on what you know.

Teach your family and friends and neighbors why newspapers matter.

Explain to them that this is not about the medium of paper, but rather that it concerns the preservation of the news-gathering organizations we call newspapers.

Educate everyone around you about the crucial role newspapers play in democracy.

Help people see that newspapers are the tip sheets for every other form of media.

Show them that nobody else does what you do, and why our society will be lost without it.

Please help us spread the word.

And please, pass on our URL.

And, by the way, Laura Frank, you're now one of my heroes.

* Thank you to Matthew Roberts and everyone who put together this very well-done video tribute to the Rocky. As noted, it's hosted at Vimeo.

** Cross posted at Know Newspapers

— TJ Sullivan in LA