Rocky Mountain Independent: Former Rocky Mountain News Staffers To Launch Online Magazine

DENVER — After splitting from financial backers of one online news venture, some former staffers of the defunct Rocky Mountain News plan to launch an online news magazine this summer.

The Rocky Mountain Independent would have free original content but would be supported by advertising and members who pay for benefits like premium content and live chats, co-founder Steve Foster said. Content would come from a staff of about a dozen, plus freelancers and partner blogs that would share content and revenue.

"Our goal is to partner with the people of Denver and serve as the hub of an ongoing conversation between those who cover the news and those who read it," Foster said.

Details will be announced in coming weeks.

Foster said the Independent will try to fill a void left by the closure of the Rocky Mountain News. The E.W. Scripps Co. closed the newspaper after its Feb. 27 edition, citing losses that reached $16 million last year.

"We're going to look for stories that aren't being told, stories that are going unreported or underreported since our newspaper closed," Foster said.

Foster and other founding journalists who are investing time or money upfront are getting an ownership interest in the magazine. He would not disclose how much money is being invested.

The main founders were among former Rocky Mountain News staffers who volunteered to work on InDenverTimes, envisioned as an online newspaper with a staff of about 30 former News editors and reporters and supported with subscriptions and ads.

Several of those staffers have since parted ways with three Colorado businessmen who pledged to financially back it, after InDenverTimes missed a goal of signing up 50,000 paying subscribers by April 23. Instead, it had about 3,000.

The future of InDenverTimes is still being decided.

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On the Net:

http://www.rmindependent.com

Comments

[NoSillyName]

Hope it works out. Very sad to see the demise of the paper that had been around for nearly 150 years.

[Gasparilla]

I hate to say it, but I doubt it will work. All the people cheering the demise of print papers predicted everyone would be reading a paper online. Won't happen.

[mediamarv]

Good for them. RMN was a very interesting and respected paper.
I wish them well, as they figure out a new journalistic business model.