Say so long to the Rocky Mountain News.

The scrappy tabloid published its farewell edition today, another victim of a dismal economy and an upheaval in the media industry that has shuttered newspapers across the nation. Official word of the death of Colorado's oldest newspaper came Thursday - less than two months before its 150th birthday - and ended nearly three months of speculation over the paper's future.

"I could say stupid things like 'I know how you feel.' But I don't," Rich Boehne, chief executive officer of Rocky-owner E.W. Scripps told a newsroom meeting. "We are just deeply sorry. I hope you will accept that."

Some employees teared up, and sadness over the paper's demise rippled through the community.

"I just had a good friend, a cop, call weeping," said Patty Calhoun, editor of the alternative weekly Westword. "She was so emotional. She said, 'I feel like I lost a friend.' "

A story about the closure on the Rocky Web site brought hundreds of similar comments from loyal readers.

"I've read the RMN for 50 years," one wrote. "What will morning be like without it?"

City auditor Dennis Gallagher said he planned to bring black armbands to his office and hoped Gov. Bill Ritter and Mayor John Hickenlooper would declare an official day of mourning.

"It's a very, very sad day," Ritter said. "We lose a Colorado icon, we lose a newspaper that has contributed so much, I think, to the history of the state."

State GOP chairman Dick Wadhams compared it with a punch in the stomach. "I just can't imagine my Rocky not being on the driveway Saturday morning."

A Colorado institution

Scripps announced on Dec. 4 that it wanted to sell the Rocky and its 50 percent interest in the Denver Newspaper Agency, the company that has handled joint business operations for the Rocky and the Denver Post since 2001. The move came in the wake of a $16 million loss for the Rocky last year.

The sale of the newspaper brought out all sorts of colorful characters, Boehne said, adding, "You get calls from pay phones at parks."

But in the end, there was just one out-of-state nibble from a potential buyer who withdrew after realizing that it would cost as much as $100 million "just to stay in the game."

Since then, Scripps said it has been working with Post owner MediaNews Group to come up with a plan to leave Colorado. The news that the departure was imminent brought a flood of memories from public officials around the state.

"The Rocky is more than a great Colorado institution. It's been an indispensable teller of the tale of the rise of the American West," said Senate Minority Leader Josh Penry. The Grand Junction Republican recalled the Rocky front page that adorned the wall of his childhood bedroom: an oversized photo mounted on orange construction paper of John Elway running off the field with his arms raised high, victorious, after a big win at old Mile High.

"The Rocky's been such a part of Colorado's fabric, it's going to be odd to not see it on the street and on my front porch," said former Gov. Bill Owens. "This is like when Bonanza went off NBC."

An uphill challenge

The Rocky-Post joint operating agreement, a government-approved arrangement which allowed the papers to share all business services, was designed to preserve two editorial voices in the community. But in difficult economic times, Boehne said the Post's broadsheet format and established Sunday edition made it more viable.

"In this environment, where there's so little room to take economic risk, I really feel the best chance for survival belongs to the broadsheet," he said.

Despite that, MediaNews chief Dean Singleton faces an uphill challenge, he said.

"He walks away with an unprofitable paper, $130 million in debt and revenues that are down 15 to 20 percent," Boehne said. "We had to kill a newspaper. He can pay for the press."

For some readers, having just one paper will be an adjustment.

"My husband Steve reads the Rocky first; I read the Post first," said Sen. Joyce Foster, D-Denver. "Then I read the Rocky, and he reads the Post. That's the way it's been in our house. Now we're going to have to fight over the Post. This is not OK."

4 Pulitzers in past decade

Thursday's announcement came as metropolitan newspapers find themselves reeling from plummeting advertising revenues and dramatically diminished share prices. Just this week, Hearst, owner of the San Francisco Chronicle, announced that unless it was able to make deep cuts, it would put the paper up for sale and possibly close it.

The Rocky was founded in 1859 by William Byers, one of Colorado's most influential figures. Scripps bought the paper in 1926 and immediately began a newspaper war with the Post. The Rocky took on a distinctive identity in 1942, when then-Editor Jack Foster saved it by adopting the tabloid style it has been known for ever since. Readers loved the change, and circulation took off.

In the past decade, the Rocky has won four Pulitzer Prizes, more than all but a handful of American papers. Its sports section was named one of the 10 best in the nation this week, and its business section was cited by the Society of American Business Editors and Writers as one of the best in the country last year. The Rocky photo staff regularly makes the list of the 10 best in the nation.

"I certainly feel that all of (us) did what we could to make this paper successful, and I want to thank you for that," Editor John Temple told the staff after Thursday's announcement.

As the meeting ended, he urged Rocky reporters and editors to make the final edition a keeper.

"It's a bit like being given the chance to play the music at your own funeral, and I want to play really, really good music," he said.

"To me, this is the very sad end of a beautiful thing."

Staff writers Ed Sealover, Lynn Bartels, Myung Oak Kim, John Rebchook and Joanne Kelley contributed to this report.

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