Subscription Model Tested In Denver

Ex-staffers from the Rocky Mountain News could be back on their old beats if a venture to fund a website with subscriptions proves a success.

Three entrepreneurs are behind the attempt to create a news website – In Denver Times – to replace the gap left by the closure of the Rocky last month.

Video introduction to In Denver Times.


According to Associated Press, the site would be funded by reader subscriptions and advertising revenue.

Some 50,000 annual subscriptions costing $4.99 (£3.43) is the target figure for the investors if the website is to be up and running by May.

These subscribers would then receive extra content in the shape of mobile feeds, access to interactive features etc.

About 30 journalists and editors from the Rocky Mountain News would be hired by the website if subscription targets are met.

One of these former Rocky reporters in line to get a job with In Denver Times is Tillie Fong.

She said: “I want to be a journalist. This is ‘what I want to be when I grow up,’

“When the Rocky closed, it was traumatic, shocking. It was a hard blow. It was a death. This is sort of like a phoenix.”

If you want to know more about the creation of In Denver Times, a video is available of the press conference announcing its goals.

The first website to rise from the ashes of the Rocky Mountain News was I Want My Rocky, which features blog posts and reports from former journalists at the newspaper.