Eleven US newspapers have closed along with two printing plants in a “sobering” three months for the media industry.
In Minneapolis, the Star Tribune has set December 28 as the date when production will switch to the Des Moines, Iowa, facility of Gannett – now known as USA Today Co – with the loss of 125 jobs and changes to editorial deadlines.
And changes associated with Carpenter Media’s March 2024 acquisition of Black Press Media have seen the September closure of Sound Publishing’s Lakewood, Washington, print site at which 30 local newspapers in the state and several mail-delivered titles in Alaska had been produced. It had opened only three years earlier.
In a review of the “sobering” publishing scene, Dirks, Van Essen & April president Sara April noted “a wave of closures” in the third quarter of 2025, with publishers citing “a familiar mix of rising costs, declining print advertising, and shifting reader habits” as reasons for shutting down or consolidating.
During the quarter, 71 titles changed hands in 27 transactions, but “experimentation” continued from startups seeking to re-imagine the future of news.
Closures included the long-established Jonesborough Herald in Tennessee, absorbed into Six Rivers Media’s Johnson City Press, and CherryRoad Media’s closure of the Ada Herald in Ohio, which it had bought in 2023 with other of the Cohen family’s Delphos Herald publications.
Limon Leader in Lincoln, Colorado, took the opportunity of upcoming retirements to face “financial realities” and closed at the end of October.
Carpenter Media has closed the Sandy Post and Estacada News in Clackamas, Oregon, and Johnson Publishing closed the Fulda Free Press & Murray County News and the Nobles County Review in rural southwest Minnesota, in July, noting publisher Jerry Johnson’s health concerns.
In Claremont, New Hampshire, the Eagle Times has suspended operations, its second shutdown in 15 years, while the 153-year-old Iowa Lake Mills Graphic closed with owner Sherylee Gasper citing falling ad sales as many of its advertisers move to online platforms.
Another casualty has been Forum Communications’ 124-year-old Blackduck American, which closed on September 27.
• The same period saw 71 newspaper titles change hands in 27 deals, Dirks, Van Essen & April noted.
Nineteen of these were sold to four buyers by Illinois-based News Media, which had earlier said they would have to close. Elsewhere, notably Hearst bought the Dallas Morning News after a bidding war with hedge fund Alden Global Capital, and Schneps Media sold Metro Philadelphia to O’Rourke Media – giving them the largest newspaper presence in the Philadelphia market. O’Rourke had also bought three of News Media Corp’s Arizona titles, and Shaw Media bought four in Illinois. Another multi-title sale was Paxton Media’s acquisition of 15 Missouri and Illinois titles from Better Newspapers.
• This month, Shaw Media has sold News Printing Company in central Iowa, including the 123-year-old Newton News – which it acquired in 1944 when it had ‘Daily’ in its title – along with the Jasper County Tribune, PCM Explorer, and shopper Jasper County Advertiser.
New owner is NNA board member J. Louis Mullen, part of a second-generation newspaper family who now owns more than 40 newspapers across seven states.
Terms of the sale – in which Shaw was represented by Dirks, Van Essen & April were not disclosed.
Pictured: Rebranded as The Minnesota Star Tribune, the paper will now be printed in Des Moines, Iowa