Michael Booth of the Denver Post writes Friday about the closing of the Rocky Mountain News, and he interviews some reporters on the paper’s business desk about what it means.
Booth writes, “John Rebchook, who has covered real estate for the Rocky’s business section since 1983, arrived at work about 6:45 a.m. Thursday with a gut feeling that the end was near. Before heading downstairs to the building’s workout room to exercise on the elliptical machine, he spent a half-hour cleaning off his desk.
“‘I just thought I’d better get started,’ he said. ‘I filled a garbage can with notebooks, recycled everything I could. My desk is clean now. This is the first day I came in and thought, ‘This could be the day.”
“Rebchook recalled his early days on the real estate beat in business, when he knew little about either. What began as a learning process in which he constantly asked sources to ‘make it simpler’ evolved into a 26-year gig that ended too abruptly, even though the paper’s closing has loomed for weeks.
“‘Of course, we saw this coming,’ Rebchook said. ‘It’s a little bit like knowing the foundation of the house is weak, but when it collapses, it’s still painful. I still feel sort of numb. And a little sick to my stomach.'”
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