A pair of weekly Twin Cities newspapers that serve several east metro suburbs will cease publication early next month, after their print advertising revenue was decimated by the COVID-19 crisis.
The Hastings Star Gazette’s final issue will be published on May 7, while the Bulletin of Woodbury and Cottage Grove will publish its last issue on May 6, according to an article published by RiverTown Multimedia, which owns the weeklies as part of Fargo, N.D.-based Forum Communications.
“The disruption to the advertising revenue of the Hastings Star Gazette and The Bulletin has resulted in these two publications no longer remaining financially viable,” RiverTown Publisher Neal Ronquist said in the article. “Advertising revenue accounts for approximately 70% of the revenue our paid newspapers generate.”
As part of the move, RiverTown, which publishes content from all four of its newspapers at RiverTown.net, will no longer dedicate reporting resources to covering news in Hastings or the south Washington County cities served by the Bulletin and Star Gazette, the article said. The latter was first published in 1857, a year before Minnesota’s statehood.
RiverTown says its Republican Eagle will continue to cover Red Wing, Minn., and Ellsworth, Wis., while its Star-Observer will continue covering the Wisconsin towns of Hudson, New Richmond and River Falls.
The RiverTown papers underwent a series of consolidations last summer that halved the number of titles it published to four.
The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead, the flagship paper of RiverTown owner Forum Communications, announced Friday it would cease print delivery on Mondays and Fridays to cut expenses.
Forum Communications CEO Bill Marcil Jr. said in a letter to readers the step was in response to losses prompted by the pandemic. The newspaper will continue to produce a daily e-edition.
The Pioneer Press is a member of the Forum News Service — a Forum-owned wire service — but is owned by Denver-based MediaNews Group.
Print advertising has cratered at newspapers across the country over the past month, as the economic fallout from the COVID-19 crisis continues.
In the U.S., newspaper ad revenues have dropped 20 percent to 30 percent in the last few weeks compared with a year ago, according to an International News Media Association report.
Even as readers desperate for information on the coronavirus have driven increases in online traffic and subscriptions, many local papers are cutting jobs, staff hours and pay, dropping print editions — and in some cases shutting down entirely.
Ronquist said he hopes readers will continue to support the work of professional journalists.
“Whether readers consume content via print or digital, it is the work of professional journalists that keep our government officials in check, keep our communities informed — especially in times like these — and share the milestones of friends and family members,” he said.
This report contains information from the Associated Press.
