Closure of Midwest-based newspaper chain leaves dozens of communities without a news source

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SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — Dozens of communities in the Midwest and West learned Thursday that they had lost their newspapers after an Illinois-based publisher announced it would abruptly close because of financial problems.

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News Media Corp., which owns local newspapers across five states, said it will close 14 operations in Wyoming, seven in Illinois, five in Arizona, four in South Dakota and one in Nebraska.

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Touting itself as “the voice of small town America,” NMC’s closure affects longtime newspapers that were often the primary source of news in numerous small towns, worsening the problem of news deserts in rural areas.

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The closure follows a decades-long pattern of financial challenges for local newspapers — the U.S. has lost over one-third of its print newspapers and two-thirds of its newspaper journalists since 2004 as the news media has struggled to adopt to a changing readership and revenue landscape, according to the Medill Local News Initiative at Northwestern University.

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“Unfortunately, due to financial challenges, a significant economic downturn impacting our industry, revenue losses and increasing expenses, and the recent failure of an attempt to sell the company as a going concern, we have reached a point where continuing business is no longer feasible,” company CEO J.J. Tompkins wrote in a letter to staff Wednesday.

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News Media Corp. is based in Rochelle, Illinois.

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Hundreds of employees were terminated immediately, and Tompkins wrote that the company will make “reasonable efforts to pay you all remaining compensation you have earned.”

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Staff took to social media to express their shock and disappointment at the news.

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“No one in Huron, nor any of the other papers, knew this was coming today,” Benjamin Chase, managing editor of the Huron Plainsman in South Dakota, said in a social media post. “We’re all in shock and attempting to figure out how to move forward.”

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Josh Linehan, managing editor of the Brookings Register in South Dakota, wrote in a letter to readers, “It’s no secret that it’s tough times out there for all print media, and we’re no exception.”

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He added, “But make no mistake — we’re closed for now as a result of poor corporate management.”

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News Media Corp. did not return a request for comment.

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Brookings Mayor Ope Niemeyer said the closure of his town’s newspaper “absolutely” leaves a big hole in the community. He said it’s devastating for the newspaper’s employees and disadvantages the city, County Commission and other local boards that used the newspaper for legal notices.

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Less than a year ago, Brookings lost the news on its local radio station, which left just the newspaper, now gone, he said.

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“Obviously we all have websites and Facebook and LinkedIn and Instagram and all that, but there’s a generation that doesn’t use that,” said Niemeyer, who at 65 prefers a printed newspaper.

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He liked the newspaper’s commentary for fostering conversations. The reporters did a great job telling readers what was going on in Brookings, a city of about 25,000 people, he said.

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“It brings the community together,” the mayor said. “It’s an entity that’s going to be irreplaceable.”

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On Thursday, the Sioux Falls-based Dakota Scout newspaper said it plans to expand coverage in Brookings in response to the closures.

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Dura reported from Bismarck, North Dakota.

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