Temple's lessons from the Rocky's demise

Gone but not forgotten.

John Temple, former editor, president and publisher of the Rocky Mountain News, kicked off the UC Berkeley Media Technology Summit at Googleplex (the company's headquarters) in Silicon Valley on Wednesday.

Here is the full text of what he said about lessons from the Rocky Mountain News.

It is a long speech, but worth the time it takes to read it. Here's the nut graph:

So, why did the Rocky disappear? Looking back now on that difficult day, the word that stands out in Boehne’s statement is “newspaper.” As one former Scripps executive told me in talking about what has happened to the newspaper industry, words that I think apply to the Rocky, “We had all the advantages and let it slip away. We couldn’t give up the idea that we were newspaper companies.”

For more of John Temple, follow him daily on Twitter: @JTEMPLERMN

He's continuing a blow-by-blow from the invitation-only Media Technology Summit.