Continuous publication of the Rocky Mountain News spans three centuries.

Its status as Colorado's best daily newspaper has been reaffirmed annually throughout the past decade, both locally and nationally, and its reputation is growing as a place where accomplished journalists can do the best work of their careers and where they will grow creatively and advance professionally.

The News has prepared this section to acquaint you with its history, its culture and its record of excellence, and to explain the benefits of working at the News and enjoying life in Denver and Colorado. Please browse through this section to learn more.

Colorado was not yet a state, nor Denver a city, when the first issue of the Rocky Mountain News came forth from the hand press that founder William N. Byers had hauled from Omaha by oxcart.

CHERRY CREEK, K. T., as in Kansas Territory, read the masthead.

The date was April 23, 1859.

"With our hat in our hand and our best bow, we this week make our first appearance upon the stage in the capacity of Editor," Byers wrote.

"We make our debut in the far west, where the snowy mountains look down upon us in the hottest summer day as well as in the winter's cold; here where a few months ago the wild beasts and wilder Indians held undisturbed possession - where now surges the advancing wave of Anglo Saxon enterprise and civilization; where soon we fondly hope will be erected a great and powerful state, another empire in the sisterhood of empires . . .

"Fondly looking forward to a long and pleasant acquaintance with our readers, hoping well to act our part, we send forth to the world the first number of the Rocky Mountain News."

In a spirited contest that proved to be the harbinger of endless competition that continues to this day, the News won the race to publish first when Byers succeeded in printing the first copies of his first edition some 20 minutes ahead of the rival Cherry Creek Pioneer.

Today, Colorado's first newspaper remains the state's oldest continuously operated business - its place in the lives of its readers firmly established, its journalistic excellence affirmed in both the state and the nation, and most importantly, its future secure.

The News lives because of its refusal to die.

Denver's hotly contested newspaper war was widely reported within the newspaper industry for more than 20 years beginning in the 1970s. But there had been many battles decades earlier.

Scripps Howard bought the News in 1926, and by the start of The Great Depression, The Denver Post's daily circulation lead stood at about 60,000 copies. During the 1930s the News and its competitors resorted to flagpole sitters, gasoline giveaways and many other outrageous promotions to steal readers from each other. By the time Pearl Harbor was attacked by Japan, the News was on the verge of closing.

Faced with seemingly inevitable failure if he did nothing, editor Jack Foster convinced Scripps Howard to allow him to convert the News to tabloid format. It would be easier for readers to hold, and it would make advertising more affordable to small businesses, Foster reasoned. His visionary thinking charted a course that would continue to be the News' salvation into another century.

Foster also introduced the first "advice" column. It, too, was both an instant hit and an enduring inspiration. Molly Mayfield was written by Foster's wife, Frances, initially to appeal to wives of servicemen stationed at Lowry Air Force Base. It quickly became the most popular feature in any Denver newspaper, and thereafter a staple of nearly every American daily newspaper in the form of either Ann Landers or Abigail Van Buren.

Within a year, circulation had climbed by 5,000 copies, and it continued to grow.

The News had won that battle for survival, but by the start of the third century in which it was published, the News was at another crossroads.

What had developed into a fight to the death between the News and Post ended when the owners of the two newspapers, E.W. Scripps and MediaNews Group, agreed to seek approval from the United States Department of Justice for a joint operating agreement under provisions of the Newspaper Preservation Act.

The JOA application was approved on January 6, 2001, authorizing formation of the Denver Newspaper Agency, a separate company owned equally by Scripps and MediaNews. The Agency began operation and assumed responsibility for all non-editorial operations of both newspapers on January 22, 2001, ensuring two independent and competitive editorial voices for decades to come under a 50-year contract.

A Rocky Mountain News editorial, published the day the joint operating agreement was approved, spoke to readers much as William Byers did almost 142 years earlier:

"Too many myths have been floating around since the Rocky Mountain News and The Denver Post announced last May their desire to form a joint operating agreement," the News wrote. "Now that Attorney General Janet Reno has approved the JOA, we're here to smother one of those myths in its nest.

"There will be no loss of independence on the editorial side. Not one speck.

"This newspaper was an independent and unfettered voice when founded 141 years ago. It remains such a voice today. And thanks to the JOA, it is not going to be muted for many, many years to come . . ."

Neither newspaper nor owner enjoys a financial advantage as a result of the JOA. Scripps and MediaNews each receive 50 percent of the JOA's profits.