Communities react as Southwest News Media ends publication of several local Minnesota newspapers
SHAKOPEE, Minn. — Several local Minnesota newspapers published their last editions recently.
Southwest News Media announced earlier this month it's ending the publication of nine papers by month's end:
- Chanhassen Villager
- Chaska Herald
- Hutchinson Leader
- Jordan Independent
- Litchfield Independent Review
- Prior Lake American
- Savage Pacer
- Shakopee Valley News
- Southwest Saturday
Two of those papers, the Hutchinson Leader and the Litchfield Independent Review, were printed by Hutchinson's Crow River Press, which Southwest News Media says it will stop using.
Three of the papers have deep histories in their communities. The Chaska Herald was founded in the late 1850s; the Shakopee Valley News in 1861; and the Jordan Independent in 1885.
Southwest News Media says the move was made largely due to dwindling advertising revenue as readers now largely obtain their news digitally.
Denver-based MediaNewsGroup, which owns the St. Paul Pioneer Press, acquired Southwest News Media and Crow River Press in 2020.
CBS News' "60 Minutes" reported in 2022 about MediaNewsGroup's owner, the hedge fund Alden Global Capital, which lawmakers have accused of using a "newspaper-killing business model" of acquiring local papers and decimating budgets and newsroom staff.
Alden is the second-largest owner of newspapers in the United States with more than 200 in its portfolio, including the Boston Herald, Chicago Tribune and Denver Post.
Communities react to papers' end
Opening the mailbox every Saturday was a comfort for Yolanda Brandon, but this weekend was the first she didn't find a Shakopee Valley News.
"Immediately I was reminded with no paper, I was kind of bummed, like oh no," Brandon said.
Brandon says it was important to her to learn of local students' accomplishments, garage sales, free concerts and read the obituaries.
"When my husband passed away almost eight years ago, I have his obituary that was printed in the paper and I've always kept it because it's special to me," she said.
Noah Mitchell was a reporter for the Chanhassen Villager for a grand total of five weeks after being hired in March.
He says he wrote eight stories before learning he was getting laid off.
"It didn't even really seem real," Mitchell said. "People in my life, but especially from other journalists, just the support has been overwhelming and has reaffirmed my interest and my belief that [journalism] is the right thing to do for me."
The job was Mitchell's first in journalism after graduating from the University of Minnesota in December.
He plans to work part-time for Southwest Voices, which covers southwest Minneapolis, and pick up freelance work.
Gregg Aamot was the managing editor for the six papers. He left in January without knowing anything of the closures.
"There's no one else paying attention to government so [local journalism] really plays a vital role in letting people know what's going on in their communities," Aamot said. "It gets us a little closer to that place we don't want to be where there are gaps in coverage around our state."
A study last year from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University found the U.S. is on pace to lose a third of all its newspapers by the end of 2024.