And now it gets interesting. 

David Milstead at the Rocky Mountain News reports today that his paper’s parent company Scripps has accused The Denver Post and its publisher MediaNews Group of improperly borrowing “$13 million from their jointly owned operating agency to cover The Post’s newsroom payroll.” Rumors of MediaNews Group’s financial shaky footing have been around for months, and Scripps alleges MediaNews was forced to resort to the improper “loan” after the JOA’s banks tightened credit.

So now we know why Scripps has been silent since it announced its mid-January deadline for finding a buyer for the Rocky or shutting it down. And we also know why MediaNews Goup’s Dean Singleton has been so desperate in his efforts to ensure that the Rocky disappears. If the Rocky were to find a buyer, it might not be long before the Denver Post went under.

Update: Michael Roberts at Westword also blogged about Milstead’s article. Definitely worth reading.