Rocky Mountain Independent quits online ‘experiment’
The Rocky Mountain Independent, an online magazine started in July, on Thursday declared an end to its “experiment.” Owners of the Web site said in an e-mail to subscribers and followers that RMI will stop producing new content Monday, Oct. 5.
Rumors of RMI’s demise began circulating nearly two weeks ago, when the site’s original content began to fall off precipitously. RMI staff members had stated publicly that they were prepared to work without pay through September.
In its e-mail, RMI said: “Our experiment has ended, and we would like to thank all of you who became members of the web site to support us. We have put everything we’ve made into producing content, but the economic reality is that we cannot produce enough content on that budget to justify charging a membership fee.”
RMI was founded by more than a dozen former editors and reporters at the Rocky Mountain News. INDenverTimes, which attempted an ambitious subscription program last spring, lauded the RMI effort but remains committed to free content supported by advertisers and other revenue sources.
RMI subscribers will be refunded the “prorated remainder” of their membership fees by check, according to the owners’ message.
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