WHAT OF DENVER'S WEB WAR?

By: Staff reports Online Ops Could Work Together



The Denver Post and Denver Rocky Mountain News promise to retain their editorial
individuality under the proposed joint operating (JOA) agreement. But what's to become
of a newspaper war that was very much alive online as well?


So far, not much attention has been paid to the newspapers' Web sites as the papers'
have set off for Washington to seek the Justice Department's approval of the deal, but
the proposed JOA allows the newspapers' online operations to work together.



A source in Denver familiar with both newspapers speculates that the Web sites
(DenverPost.com and RockyMountainNews.com) may be merged into a single site similar to
SFGate.com in San Francisco. The source adds that Rocky Mountain News parent E.W. Scripps
appears to be taking the lead in online operations. The Post is owned by MediaNews Group
Inc. of Denver.



Calls to various officials at both Web sites were all referred to Tim Stautberg, vice
president of communications and investor relations at E.W. Scripps Co., based in
Cincinnati. 'An arrangement between the online operations of the two newspapers is
permitted under the proposed joint operating agreement, but not required,' said Stautberg,
who declined to comment further.



Neal F. Fondren, vice president/new media at Scripps, added that a partnership between the
two sites has always been possible. He pointed to the partnership in Dallas-Fort Worth with
DFW.com between Belo and Knight Ridder. 'What's going to happen [in Denver] is up in the
air,' Fondren said.



Meanwhile, the individual Web sites are moving forward. Soon, KnightRidder.com's Real Cities
network plans to open a Denver site in partnership with the Rocky Mountain News.



Michael Roberts, a staff writer for Denver's alternative paper, Westword, points out that the
sites have different philosophies. He says RockyMountainNews.com takes more of a portal
approach, while DenverPost.com provides a traditional news presentation. But like in print,
both sites have competed for news. 'Both are aggressive,' Roberts said.