The Rocky Mountain News is leaving us. Just 55 days short of it’s 150th anniversary, the “Rocky” is shutting down the presses and will cease publication. To me, they will never really be gone. It was in 2006 that the Rocky told the story, “Final Salute.” They followed Major Steve Beck as he delivered the news no family wants to hear: casualty notification. Photographer Todd Heisler and writer Jim Sheeler – and really the rest of the Rocky staff through design and support – took home the Pulitzer Prize for the piece. See it here.
For me, it was one of those lessons that you learn by seeing and not being told. The day I saw their online production of “Final Salute,” I learned the importance of storytelling. I learned the power of words, sound and images integrated together and how a good story, told with the right mix of media, can move you. The page design of their print edition of “Final Salute” was tremendous. Heisler’s images exploded off the page.
I’m sorry to see the Rocky go. They have a very moving video on the front page of their Web site that is worth checking out. I could embed it here but I’m not going to. Instead I encourage you to visit the Rocky site, let them count the clicks, cruise around and read some of the archives, check out “Final Salute” and see what we are all going to miss.