Podcast: John Temple and the future of news

Ben and I spoke with John Temple, the former editor and publisher of the Rocky Mountain News and the man who hired us to moderate RedBlueAmerica.com, about the future of the news media. Temple, who has turned to blogging with gusto, recently wrote a provocative 10-part series on what he would do to revive newspapers’ flagging fortunes.

Temple is as provocative in the interview as he is on the blog. “If you’re not adding value you shouldn’t do it in print,” he told us. “Because there’s no way you’re going to be reporting the news in print, unless you’re the one making the news.” Among the other questions we tackle in this edition:

• Is it enough for newspapers to merely be newspapers?
• What shouldn’t local newspapers be covering?
• Is the crisis that’s affecting media organizations merely the result of dumb business decisions?
• What did the glorious failure of RedBlueAmerica teach us?

Music heard in this podcast:

• Excerpts from Ferde Grofe’s “Tabloid Suite,” including “Run of the News,” “Going to Press,” and “Sob Sister.”

Find the podcast here. Or go to iTunes and find it here.

The death of the Rocky Mountain News

About a year ago, I spent a few days huddled in the offices of the Rocky Mountain News with Editor John Temple and some other bright, friendly folks, trying to launch a little political website that — unfortunately for me — died before it had been fully birthed.

Tomorrow, the Rocky prints its final edition after nearly 150 years.

I’ll dispense with analysis for now — except to note that this is probably the beginning of a very bloody year for American journalism. When the dust settles, there will be journalism. It will look very different, however. And that’s fine, but there’s a great deal of pain to endure before we get to that point.

Right now, that pain is being borne by Temple, Linda Sease and Vincent Carroll, among other good people I got the chance to know during my brief time at Scripps. I wish them well. They are in my thoughts.