Redfield, Moody County, Huron, and Brookings all lost their local newspapers yesterday. Their out-of-state owner, Illinois-based News Media Corporation, shut down all of its newspapers (counts vary: KORN says 25; Publishing Insider mentions 21 weeklies; NMC’s lingering website lists 31 newspapers and six shopping rags), fired all of its people, and terminated all employee health coverage Wednesday without any apparent advance notice. NMC CEO J.J. Tompkins’s letter to terminees says last paychecks are a maybe: “We will make all reasonable efforts to pay you all remaining compensation you have earned as soon as possible, to the extent permitted by the company’s secured lenders.”
Along with the immediate human toll of dozens of lost jobs, the sudden closure of the Brookings Register, the Huron Plainsman, the Redfield Press, and the Moody County Enterprise further weaken our democracy:
Their disappearance leaves a void. Without local news coverage, smaller towns risk slipping into information deserts, where rumors flourish and critical issues go unnoticed. The shuttering of these papers, part of a wider national trend driven by economic struggles and changing media consumption habits, is a stark reminder of the fragile state of local journalism.
News Media Corporation’s financial difficulties and failed attempts to sustain or sell its portfolio highlight the broader challenges facing traditional news outlets. But the real tragedy is not the business failure itself. It’s the communities left behind, stripped of an essential democratic tool.
As we reflect on this loss, it’s vital for readers, leaders, and policymakers to consider how to support and reinvent local journalism. Whether through nonprofit models, community funding, or innovative digital platforms, the survival of local news is critical, not just for stories, but for the health of our democracy and the strength of our neighborhoods [Travis Kriens, “The Quiet End of Local Voices: What the Closure of South Dakota Newspapers Means for Our Communities,” KORN Radio, 2025.08.06].
Troy McQuillen of Aberdeen may be watching. In 2023, the Aberdeen entrepreneur launched the Aberdeen Insider to provide an alternative to the anemic coverage provided by the Aberdeen News, which is owned and printed out of state. The Insider won the contract to serve as Aberdeen’s newspaper of record last summer, and McQuillen launched a sister publication in Watertown, the Current, last September. McQuillen apparently is figuring out a business model with his two tiny pubs that News Media Corporation couldn’t across five states. The Insider and the Current suggest that Brookings, Huron, Redfield, and Flandreau aren’t doomed to become news deserts; they just need to find a local mover and shaker who’s committed to local news and local reporters unbeholden to remote corporate owners.
p.s.: Brookings could find a news solution in South Dakota State University. The SDSU Collegian already covers some community news; perhaps the absence of a local newspaper creates an opportunity for SDSU journalism students to more deeply embed themselves in Brookings and learn the ropes of reporting and publishing while providing the town with the news it needs. Student journalists provide this service elsewhere; see also the example of the Eudora Times, where University of Kansas student-journalists brought local news back to life in a Kansas town of 6,500 people.
I still read a paper newspaper. 🗞️ Once every six weeks, in the barbershop and then for maybe five minutes. Haircuts are now by appointment and newspapers are now dinosaurs.
South Dakota’s problem isn’t the inability to purchase a tactile newspaper. It’s the inability to change in a timely manner.
i.e. Newsprint newspapers died ten years ago. Catch up … You’re not gonna put iPhone out of business!!
We stopped reading the Washington Post, for clear reasons. The same reason for the New York Times. Now we get our national news from Ground News. The local news of South Dakota’s heart and soul, nowhere to be found…until today.
It has been a long news drought Mr. Cory. Glad to see your great reporting back on line.
I stopped reading the RCJ a couple of years ago. The closing of most functions in Rapid City left a paper which normally had four pages of local news of which were short articles of scheduled meetings. I tried the e-edition which although cheaper, produced the same results. I subscribe to the Black Hills Pioneer which is head and shoulders above the RCJ. They are locally owned and publish local news in depth.
I hope they can find a way to do a Rapid City and area edition and put the RCJ out of it’s misery.