FUTURE OF LOCAL NEWS
Readers weigh in on Post’s cuts
Re: “Huge reductions will take 30% of newsroom,” March 15 news story.
I am distressed to hear that The Denver Post is cutting its newsroom staff by 30 percent. The quality of The Denver Post has been decreasing over the years since its acquisition by out-of-state owners who have no regard for the value of local news, not to mention the quality of the newspaper overall.
The real value of The Post is in its coverage of local news in a responsible, objective and thorough manner. Since the demise of the Rocky Mountain News, this is more important than ever. Do the owners of the paper not understand the value of an independent free press that can cover local stories that are important to your local readers however they read your paper? It cannot be all about profit.
The Denver Post has consistently been raising subscription costs, which I have agreed to because of the importance I place on the fourth estate. However, this latest decision to reduce the local reporting staff makes me question the wisdom of maintaining my subscription.
I wish someone could buy The Post who truly values the importance of a free press. That I am willing to pay for.
Greg Sorensen, Denver
Cutting 30 positions in the newsroom? The public has sold ourselves out for the hopes of free news on the internet. Journalists are our defense against the unchecked power of government and industry.
With The Denver Post being owned by a hedge fund, the voice of the people is being killed off. We need journalists, relentless and questioning. They are our only defense. We should all be sickened and frightened at the direction newspapers are going. We need journalists and newspapers for survival.
Staci Stech, Highlands Ranch
The Incredible Shrinking Denver Post, already a miserable shadow of what it once was, has predictably upped my monthly subscription rate by 20 percent — all to receive less local news and more regurgitated, bloated and tardy wire service content that I’ve already read elsewhere.
It’s no secret what this business strategy implies: Milk captive readership in the short term for the benefit of The Post’s distant hedge-fund owners and then turn off the lights and leave Denver readers without a community newspaper for the first time in 160 years.
As a subscriber for the past three decades and a former newspaper reporter, I’m embarrassed by this transparent and bumbling effort at survival journalism. And don’t blame the loss of revenue on the internet; like most businesses, you’ve had 20 years to roll with the punches and monetize the delivery of an online product that’s worth buying.
Do us all a pre-emptive favor — close the doors now and give the keys to somebody who knows what they’re doing.
Gojan Nikolich, Lakewood
Re: “Reactions to The Denver Post’s newsroom staff reductions,” March 17 letters to the editor.
My wife and I have been loyal subscribers to The Denver Post for 40 years, and while we have not always agreed with some of the editorial commentary, we have been avid readers. The economic necessity of reduction in newsroom staff is an unfortunate piece of the evolution in the news media.
The comment by letterwriter Dennis Busch disparaging The Post as “leftwing” highlights the deep division in America regarding the mainstream media. Factual news is politically neither left nor right, but rather simply is what it is — the truth. Whether factual news is palatable to Mr. Busch (and many likeminded Americans) makes it neither more nor less the truth.
All Americans must accept factual news, even though it might not gel with their political preconceptions and prejudices. The denial cry “fake news” is akin to sticking one’s fingers in his ears and loudly singing “la-lala-la.”
Richard Everstine, Greenwood Village
I could not agree more with letter-writer Dennis Busch. In a very purple state, The Denver Post has decided on a very radically liberal bias. You totally alienate half of the state and wonder why you need to eliminate a third of your staff? Huh, that’s weird.
Pat Zoellner, Centennial