UPDATED: Commenter Danny Lucas alerts P&T to the announcement Thursday of the shuttering of the 150-year-old Rocky Mountain News in Denver. The Friday, Feb. 27th issue will be its last, as parent Scripps cited millions of dollars in losses, including a $16 million in 2008. The demise of “the Rocky” leaves Denver with just one daily, the Post.

Over the weekend the company that owns the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The papers in Philly are looking at a 30% decline in revenues this year while they are trying to renegotiate on $390 million in debt.

Meanwhile, it was reported Wednesday that San Francisco could lose the Chronicle should the Hearst Corp. close up shop. They are reeling from a $50 million loss in S.F. last year, and hope to get buyouts from a large number of their 1,500 employees.

So the bad news in the newspaper business keeps coming. This era of economic tsunami has hurt all media, and the decline of the newspaper business model has been in effect long before now. However, it seems like there are some papers taking it more on the chin than others. The common thread among the major metro dailies who are really suffering is their financing via LBO: Leveraged Buy Out.
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