The once and future king

Final Edition from Matthew Roberts on Vimeo*.

For a long time, in America, the small, independent newspaper was the bulwark of public information. News wasn't disseminated to the public via bland corporate newspapers but from plucky companies on a shoestring budget writing with a healthy dose of (acknowledged) bias and a flair for the dramatic. The embedded video, centering on the final days of the Rocky Mountain News, hints (near the end) at the fact that this could be in the cards some day. The reporter mentioned in the documentary is currently working for Pro Publica and, on a local level, The Texas Tribune has taken the idea of non-profit journalism with a hearty dose of advocacy into the (online) mainstream.

It's about a 30-min watch. A half-hour well spent if you're into newspapering and the future of media



*Thanks to Matt Sties (of the aforementioned Texas Tribune) for finding this on Vimeo. I first saw it on television, but he led me to the online link.