Final Edition from Matthew Roberts

My father was born in Colorado. One of my brothers lived for years in Aspen. He now lives in the Denver area, as does another brother.

In my youth, I visited Colorado a handful of times. As an adult, a few more times still.

When I first settled on journalism as a career, I dreamed of writing for the Rocky Mountain News. I was captured by a faint romantic notion that I could find myself as the lone reporter for the Rocky in some remote Colorado town. I can’t even say for sure if the Rocky had such bureaus back then.  

I think I applied once for a job at the Rocky. I don’t recall getting a response.

Years later, I wound up at the Ventura County Star, also an E.W. Scripps newspaper.

I’m proud of my time at Scripps. It was a great work environment. I was treated well and given every opportunity to grow, learn and advance my career.

I still feel part of the Scripps family and some of my best friends in the industry still work for Scripps.

While I was at the Star, a couple of reporters transferred from Ventura to Denver.  It hardly seemed like a bad idea at the time. The Rocky was a big step up — a larger paper in a bigger city and a national reputation.  The Rocky seemed as venerable then as the mountains its named after.

I’m thinking of all my friends at Scripps today. I’m sorry to see the Rocky go. It’s a loss for the company, for the communities it served for nearly 150 years and for the hardworking journalists past and present who worked dedicated themselves to producing a world class newspaper.

Previously: The Founding of the Rocky Mountain News