Staffers at the Rocky Mountain News launched www.iwantmyrocky.com Sunday night as vehicle to get their viewpoints out on why their newspaper is worth saving, The Colorado Independent reported Monday.

E.W. Scripps Co. put the 150-year-old Colorado newspaper on the auction block last Monday, warning that if no buyer emerges, it will shut down the newspaper.

Rich Boehne, Scripps CEO, said last week that the Rocky has lost about US$11 million in the first three quarters of the year, will likely lose $15 million by the end of the year, and is the group's only non-profitable newspaper.

As any sale or shutdown of the newspaper would "require input from the Justice Department," the site asks readers to contact the state's federal officials to urge them to hold Scripps officials "to the fire," The Independent reported.

"Since the day the proposed sale of the Rocky was announced, we've been waiting for the odd billionaire to join our cause," Rocky columnist Mike Littwin states on iwantmyrocky.com. "So, we turn now to the non-billionaires. We think there may be more of you. We ask not for your money, but - as they say in the sports world - for the opportunity to play for pride. Many of you read the Rocky. Many of you and your families have read the Rocky for generations."

For a previous article on this topic, visit our partner site, EditorsWeblog.org.