'Rocky' is Gone, But its Final Web Edition Lives On

By: Joe Strupp The Rocky Mountain News may be gone for good after last Friday's final print edition, but its Web site, www.rockymountainnews.com, is living on for now.

The Web site, which still exists and remains online with postings of the Rocky's final day's news, views and lengthy goodbye video, is likely to remain up for several months with those last postings, according to Spokesman Tim King of The E.W. Scripps Co., which owned the paper and still owns its name, archives, flag, and Web URL.

"The last edition will stay up for a while, no new content will be added, but we will keep the site up for a while," King said Wednesday. "My bet is for months."

Calls to the paper's main number still receive a voice mail greeting with options for reaching the newsroom, billing, and even ways to subscribe.

Asked why the Web site remains in its current state, King said, "We think others share the interest, people are still going there and searching the archives."

While Web traffic has dropped off in recent days, King said the number of page views was at 300,000 on Saturday, 192,000 on Sunday, and 190,000 on Monday.

More importantly, the Web site remains up for sale, along with the paper's archives, name, and flag.

After the Rocky's last edition on Feb. 27, The Denver Newspaper Agency -- which handled business functions for the Rocky and JOA partner The Denver Post -- switched all Rocky subscribers to the Post automatically.

But since Scripps still owns the Rocky Web site, it did not link online readers to the Post site, nor was it asked to do so, King said: "It is still for sale. We are not going to turn over the site when we are still trying to sell it."

King did not indicate what prices are being sought for the different Rocky properties, but said they would likely be sold as a package. He said at least four or five would-be buyers have shown an interest in the items, including the Web site and online archives. He had no information on what might be paid for them and said all interested parties have been directed to Broadwater and Associates, which is brokering any sale.

So there is a chance, albeit slim, the Rocky could reappear in some form, perhaps online or greatly reduced in size or scope.

"We have received some inquiries in just the past few days," King said. "But they are not actively being marketed."