Minnesota loses four more local newspapers

What they're saying: Dick Richards, who founded the parent company that published the four papers in 1972, told Forum News Service that he and his wife could no longer make the math work after years of declining advertiser and subscriber trends.

• "I think we all realized what's happening, and that it's going to social media," he said. "Everybody's got their thumbs on their phones and that's the way it's going to be.

Still, he described the loss as "like a death in the family."

Zoom out: It's not just greater Minnesota losing news sources: four-year-old hyperlocal digital outlet Minneapolis Voices recently announced that it is scaling back its operations — and staff — due to financial challenges.