Denver Dailies Thrive in Rare Newspaper War

After 60 years of battling for supremacy, Denver’s two daily newspapers have tried just about everything to gain the upper hand--they’ve toyed with their names, added sections, advertised fiercely and have gone so far as to “sell” the papers for a penny a copy.

Indeed, the competition between the Denver Post and the Denver Rocky Mountain News is notable both for its ferocity and its rarity. While circulation at newspapers around the country generally has remained static, the Denver papers, with the help of various promotions, are selling like Pokemon trading cards. The Post’s circulation has grown for 10 consecutive years, and in the last two years the News has increased its circulation by 31%.

“It’s the most prominent newspaper war in the country at the moment,” said Michael O. Wirth, chairman of the department of mass communications and journalism studies at the University of Denver. The venerable News--the state’s second-oldest business--sports a tabloid format and a focus on local events. The Post takes a broader approach, covering the state and region in depth.

The battle in a metro area of 2.4 million is fueled in part by the region’s 10-year economic boom. Unemployment is lower than the national average, per capita income is higher and Denver has experienced an infusion of high-tech cash.

To the News, the flagship of the E.W. Scripps newspaper chain, and the Post, flagship of Dean Singleton’s MediaNews Group, every front porch is a beachhead to be fought for.

The latest salvos have been fired over recently released circulation figures. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, in November the News surpassed the Post in daily circulation for the first time in six years--the News’ circulation is 396,114 and the Post’s is 376,549.

The News boasts that it has laid claim to the title of fastest-growing newspaper in the country, says it ran the most classified ads in the nation last year and, through the second quarter of this year, had the largest number of advertising inches of any newspaper in the country.

It may be a case of winning the battle but losing the war. In order to gain circulation, both papers have all but given copies away. A year ago, the News offered a six-days-a-week subscription for a penny a day and the entire second year for another penny.

In response, the Post offered a penny-a-day subscription for two six-week periods but eventually stopped the practice, as has the News. Executives at the Post call the News strategy “desperate.” However, both papers still heavily discount subscriptions.

“They’ve made a decision to gush red ink to try and move the needle in this marketplace and make it a one-newspaper town,” said Post Publisher Gerald Grilly. “If that’s what they are trying to do, good luck.”

According to some journalists, this war is being fought mostly in the boardrooms, not the newsrooms. One veteran Post reporter said: “I was talking with a guy from the Rocky Mountain News the other day. We were talking about the latest circulation figures. He was saying, ‘It used to be that in the newsroom we’d get all excited about the numbers. Now it’s the management types who get excited.’ ”

“The newspaper war has not resulted in great journalism. All it does is make the news get out faster,” said Post science reporter Ann Schrader. “In a one-newspaper town, you could sit on a story for a couple of days to get it right. Not here.”

Major stories such as the April shootings at Columbine High School ratchet up the competition, but the day-to-day competition comes mostly in local and sports coverage in this sports-mad town.

Signaling a new focus, the News added “Denver” to its masthead a year ago. News Publisher Larry Strutton said he did this after meeting with advertisers in New York. “I’d introduce myself as the publisher of the Rocky Mountain News and they’d say, ‘Where’s that?’ ”

The News’ retrenchment saved the paper $10 million in delivery costs to hard-to-reach rural communities. Executives said the money was reinvested in the paper. At the same time, by shedding about 30,000 readers, the News allowed the Post to gain a circulation foothold in those far-flung rural areas. The Post’s motto: “We Are Colorado.”

“The Post wants to deliver to Spearfish, S.D.? Hey, it’s yours,” said Linda Sease, the News’ vice president for marketing.

Amid claims and counterclaims, each paper swears the other is losing money, and business observers here say the remarkable spending spree can’t continue indefinitely.

Earlier this year the Scripps Co. announced an earnings decrease, partly, it said, because of the costs to increase market share in Denver.

MediaNews Group, which also owns the Los Angeles Daily News, is privately held and does not disclose earnings figures. Said Grilly: “We’re booming, we’re way over last year. We’re not giving away our paper. Who’s going to pay for all that red ink at the News? The advertisers? I don’t think so.”