By Jon Pushkin, APR and Gina Seamans, APR

The news about the News hit Denver's PR community like a bombshell. Partly that's because we spend a good deal of our time building relationships with members of the media. We get to know them as people and in many case we build friendships that go well beyond the newsroom.

So when the finality of the announcement that the News was on life support was delivered to employees matter-of-factly by the corporate decision makers in the Scripps company, we felt their pain as though it was our own.

We also had another eye-opening realization that was even more sobering. That is that newspapers and the journalists who work for them are disposable. It is one thing to make a business decision to sell or close a company that is not profitable. But in this case, the surprising thing is what the people making this decision failed to see: the value in the brand is worth more than the money they will save by closing the Rocky.

The equity in a 150-year-old brand like the Rocky Mountain News is priceless. Maybe you tweak the business model or make some significant changes, but you don't just discard it. The intellectual capital represented by the talented journalists who work at the News is another valuable asset that the owners fail to appreciate. Rather than asking for options or even concessions, the owners are content to dispose of that asset as well.

A free and vibrant press is a core pillar of public relations. The Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) Code of Ethics states that "protecting and advancing the free flow of accurate and truthful information is essential to serving the public interest and contributing to informed decision making in a democratic society." Healthy communities and democratic societies depend on the free flow of information to help the public make informed decisions about important issues. The troubling trend toward eliminating newspapers and treating journalists as expendable will have a serious long-term impact on the health of our communities.

Blogs and social media and word of mouth are important sources of information but they are no substitute for professional news organizations. They usually have a particular perspective and they generally do not cover stories in the same in-depth way that a reporter would. In many cases, the people who provide the news through those channels are not professional journalists. They are not Clark Kent or Lois Lane or Damon Runyon or Jimmy Breslin or Thomas Friedman. They are just people with opinions who like to express them in public forums with other people who share those same interests. There is nothing wrong with that, but it is not news. Too often it is just noise.

PRSA Colorado believes that the loss of the News would be devastating to our city's culture and reputation. We call on the decision makers at Scripps to exhaust every potential buyer and to consider other creative options before they close the paper. We offer our assistance to help them explore these options and research reasonable alternatives. We stand in solidarity with our colleagues at the News and encourage them to keep the faith.

Disposing of a priceless brand and a valuable asset is not good business. It is just bad PR.

Jon Pushkin is president of Pushkin Public Relations and a past president of the Colorado chapter of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA). Gina Seamans is a senior counselor at JohnstonWells and president of the Colorado chapter of PRSA.

As a student of history, I have long been aware of the historic nature of Barack Obama's campaign and election as the 44th President of the United States. But it was yesterday, as I was watching the "We Are One" inaugural concert on HBO, that the enormous wave of history washed over me and I was overwhelmed with emotion.

It was not just the culmination of the march begun by Martin Luther King or the similarities to the presidency of Abraham Lincoln. Those comparisons are powerful to be sure. But the specific moment that brought it all home for me was seeing 89-year-old Pete Seeger, the father of American folk music in the freezing cold with nothing but his banjo, wool hat and flannel shirt, standing with Bruce Springsteen before the next President of the United States, leading the crowd of a million strong in the singing of Woody Guthrie's ballad, This Land Is Your Land.

The song was written to express anger at the way ordinary Americans were discarded and disposed during the Dust Bowl, a time when millions of people lost their homes and farms, stood in relief lines, and finally took to the road in a great migration to find the American dream. There was a time when Woody and Pete and many who sang with them were branded communists and blacklisted. Yesterday, the next president joined Seeger and Springsteen and millions watching in person or on TV in a spirit of unity and hope for a better tomorrow. The smile on Seeger's face lit up the screen. It was an incredibly moving moment.

On January 20, America and the world will watch as the first African American President is sworn in and this land becomes our land again. His ability to inspire was what got him elected. His ability to unite us in a common purpose will be what enables him to lead.

I recently read The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein, a writer from Seattle. It's about a very smart dog who understands English and likes to watch TV. He's a lot like my dog Django actually, except this one is especially into auto racing.

The dog learns from studying car races that racing in the rain takes a lot of skill. You have to make decisions quickly but you also need the moxie to stick to that decision even if it makes you nervous. You just point the car in the direction you want to go and have faith that your skill will deliver you there. You need to trust your own instincts, because even a slight hesitation can really mess you up.

When you do that, good things happen. Just ask the pilot who landed his plane in the Hudson River yesterday. He had seconds to react but he trusted his instincts and every passenger walked off that plan safely.

Running a business today is like racing in the rain. It's slick out there and accidents can happen. Seasoned business leaders who never doubt themselves are facing indecision, maybe for the first time. Executives with nerves of steel are feeling nervous. The hounds are at the door and a hard rain is falling.

In times like these, entrepreneurs need to remember what got them here. Chances are it was a sense of adventure, and the confidence that they had the skills, talent and moxie to stand a little risk. It is that kind of confidence that allows business leaders to stick to their plan even if the wind shifts. They have a sense of purpose, and they understand that if their plan is strategic enough, it will lead them where they want to go.

It is not so much where we are. It is really our reason for being there. Maybe that understanding is all it takes to keep us on track.

Most of us try and begin a new year with a fresh approach. Whatever setbacks happened last year are in the past. Now is a time for optimism. But how can we be optimistic in the face of a 24-hour cycle of depressing news? The answer is collaboration.

Economists and prognosticators predict a wave of mergers, collaborations and partnerships in 2009. Joining forces can help businesses with a common cause overcome common challenges by supporting each other, much like caregivers for people with a devastating illness form support groups with families dealing with a similar challenge.

From nonprofits and government agencies to healthcare organizations, professional services firms, or educational institutions, forming networks, collaborations and partnerships will be the key to surviving and thriving as the economy recovers. It can help organizations communicate with common stakeholders and design creative campaigns to raise revenue, deliver services and increase brand awareness.

Here are some examples of how organizations can help each other reach common goals:

Checkoff Colorado is a collaborative public awareness campaign to encourage donations to the charitable funds in Colorado's tax checkoff program. By "checking off" a small donation to one or more of these causes, a taxpayer can make a huge difference to communities across the state. The members of the collaboration realize that a rising tide lifts all boats, so they pool together a budget to get more taxpayers to make donations. The idea is that you don't have to make a big donation to make a big difference. The program is a simple way to give.

Healthcare organizations often team up to get the word out about a common cause. For example, they might join forces to encourage people to get a flu shot or to get their child immunized. In Colorado, many organizations work with the state and local health departments to promote these efforts through the Colorado Influenza and Pneumococcal Alert Coalition (CIPAC), a statewide coalition dedicated to decreasing vaccine-preventable respiratory disease in Colorado through collaborative efforts in education and immunization.

Pima Medical Institute is a medical career college that collaborates with local medical job sites to provide internships for Pima students. The on-the-job-training programs prepare students to hit the ground running, and provide the job sites with a steady stream of highly trained employees.

Sage Public Relations Group (Jon Pushkin is a member) is a collaborative, virtual agency of veteran PR pros that combine their individual specialties to put together customized teams and strategic communications programs according to the needs of each client. Sage is designed to help each member quickly add the depth and expertise they need and to provide members with a built in network of support and resources.

As you begin the new year, think of how you can help your business or your clients by creating new or strengthening existing collaborations and partnerships. It may be the most effective way to create successful momentum in 2009.