Face The State Staff Report
In a decision characterized as a "parting of ways" between funders and former Rocky Mountain News reporters, investors have decided not to go forward as planned with the InDenverTimes Web site. While the partnership sought 50,000 paid subscribers, it had only received 3,000 as of Wednesday.
PrebludFTS File Photo
"I think it was a difficult decision, but amicable," said investor Kevin Preblud. "I have the utmost respect for all of the these writers. Their time and effort in the last five weeks has been phenomenal. We said the business model was based on 50,000 subscribers. We didn't reach that goal so we won't move forward under that model, but there are several alternative models that make sense, those that require a different cost structure that means a smaller staff."
At a press conference in March, Preblud and fellow investors Ben Ray and Brad Gray, gathered to announce their initial model: if 50,000 people pledged to pay for an online subscription by today, April 23, then the site would "go live." Prior to the Rocky's closing last month, its circulation was over 210,000, spurring early optimism about the project.
The reporting staff was made up of former Rocky reporters displaced by the paper's closure, which came just shy of its 150th anniversary, which would have been celebrated today.
After getting just 3,000 subscribers for the new venture, however, Preblud said it was time to pull the plug.
According to a press release sent to out today, former Rocky writers David Milstead and Steve Foster are still looking for backers to support an online journalism endeavor. Their project, however, will have to be separate from InDenverTimes because the three investors still retain the rights to the company's name, brand and Web site.
Milstead and Preblud both indicated they are optimistic about the future of online journalism, but have fundamental differences as to how to make an online model successful.
"The people on the business side want to be positive and highlight the consensus [reached to halt the project] rather than the difference of opinion," said Milstead. "On the newsroom side, we're still journalists and we want to acknowledge what really happened last night. It is a parting of the ways. They still believe in online journalism, but at this point there is a difference of opinion on what the good model is in this economy."
Milstead and other former Rocky writers envision a "robust" newsroom with 20 to 30 writers, whereas Preblud and his fellow investors think it is better to start small and work to support a growing staff.
"I think we are headed down the same road," said Preblud. "They want to start out with a robust and large newsroom and then get to the finish line from that starting point rather than from a small start. That's the only difference."
In the meantime, Preblud said he is not sure what readers can expect from the Web site.
"In the near term it is an unknown what will be on the site," said Preblud. "Within a short time we will be able to let our readers know the direction we will take."