Thursday, April 23, 2009

Denver Web venture pulls back

InDenverTimes.com, the Web-only successor to the Rocky Mountain News, will change course after it failed to meet its goal to attract 50,000 paying subscribers.

INDT said certain members of its newsroom group, led by co-founder Steve Foster and business writer David Milstead, intend to seek backers for their original vision of a robustly staffed online newsroom. “We believe there is money to be made in local journalism by local journalists and that there is a unique opportunity in Denver in the wake of the closure of the Rocky Mountain News,” they said in a statement.

INDT didn’t say which business model it now intends to pursue. A report published by local Denver weekly Westword said the site had only attracted 3,000 paying customers, far below its goal.

INDT launched March 16 by 30 journalists at the now shuttered News. It had hoped to attract 50,000 subscribers — at an annual fee of $60 — by today, which would have marked the 150th anniversary of the News. The paper folded Feb. 27.

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