Three local newspapers, citing higher printing costs and other issues, close in southwest Minnesota

FULDA, Minn. — The end arrived this week for three local newspapers in rural southwest Minnesota.

The Fulda Free Press and Murray County News, the Nobles County Review and the Murray County ADdvantage issued their final editions this week, ending more than 140 years of coverage in the region.

“Farewell!” said a statement in the Thursday edition of Fulda Free Press and Murray County News.

The statement from Johnson Publishing cited the high costs of printing and postage, lower numbers of subscribers and advertisers and increased demands for digital over print production.

The health concerns of Jerry Johnson, who ran the newspaper for more than half a century, were also said to be a factor. In 1972, Jerry Johnson, along with his wife, Louise, bought the Fulda Free Press. The paper traces its heritage to 1880, when it was first published under the name “The Farmer.”

“The end of an era has come for small town newspapers covering our area,” the statement said.

The three newspapers are part of a larger trend of publication closings across Minnesota. One study found Minnesota lost 34% of its newspapers over the last two decades, mostly in rural areas.

In Fulda, a farming community of about 1,300, residents lamented the end of their local newspaper.

“We’re living in a world in which no one is getting younger,” said Fulda resident Adam Welling as he bagged goods at Maynard’s Food Center.

The 33-year-old said the newspaper had been around as long as he had been alive and was one of the ways his hometown stood out from other areas.

“It’s sad. I hate to see it close,” said another Fulda resident Burdell Christians, 83.

Christians said he had been a subscriber for as long as he could remember.

“It was all local information,” he said.

The final edition of the Fulda Free Press and Murray County News included notes from meetings of the local school board and the county commissioners, as well as legal notices and a profile of local artist Rebby Lee, who had recently received a grant.

Around 5 p.m. on Thursday, the sign that hung in the doorway of the office of the Fulda Free Press and Murray County News switched.

It flipped from “Open” to “Closed.”