Texas businessman Brian Ferguson, an unsuccessful bidder for the shuttered Rocky Mountain News, is still in the hunt for a piece of the tabloid, focused on capturing its archives and website.
The private-equity investor’s aim — what he termed as more “philanthropic” than profit-seeking — is to provide scholars and researchers access, including digitally, to journalism that chronicles Colorado history back to the 1800s, he said.
“The Rocky’s archives are going to be a valuable tool for academic inquiry,” said Ferguson, who has followed the News for decades. “It’s important to make sure that material is available to researchers.”
E.W. Scripps, owner of the News’ assets, has yet to announce when it will take bids. The company is still in talks with Denver Post owner MediaNews Group to resolve lingering details over their joint operating agreement, which allowed them to share business operations under a federal law. Scripps officials could not be reached for comment.
Dean Singleton, chief executive of MediaNews, declined to comment Thursday. He recently suggested he was in position to make a bid.
“Our reading of the JOA is that we have rights of first refusal on that (the archives and website),” Singleton told Post employees on the day of the Rocky’s closure.
Dealers of old newspapers said turning the archives into a profit-making venture would be a challenge.
“You can appreciate the desire to want to keep the paper’s record intact, but . . . it’s not a highly sought-after paper” nationally, said Philip Druce, manager of Historic Newspaper Archives, which sells national and international newspapers dating back to the 1800s.
Ferguson, who says he was frustrated that he couldn’t meet Scripps’ price for the News to fend off its closure, nevertheless feels that the tabloid’s value as a unique editorial voice is worth an aggressive bid to keep the brand and archives intact.
Ferguson said he intends to “partner” with another entity, perhaps a university, to house the archives.
He downplayed the prospect that, if he purchased the assets, he would attempt to revive the News as a publication online or in print.
“The work that was done there is widely recognized as good work, and we’d simply like to see that remain intact,” he said.
Staff writer Aldo Svaldi contributed to this report.
Miles Moffeit: 303-954-1415 or mmoffeit@denverpost.com
