• by Melynda Fuller , June 12, 2020

Newspaper giant Gannett has shuttered two local papers — The Edinburg Review and Valley Town Crier —both located in McAllen, Texas, along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Publisher Yvonne Gomez confirmed the news with The Rio Grande Guardian, which reported the news.

According to the report, a note was attached to the front door of the newspapers' shared offices that read: “Our offices are permanently closed. Thanks for your preference and support!

A staffer stated that, according to management, the newspapers were shuttered after a significant drop in revenue, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The closures happened abruptly.

Publishers, already facing an uphill battle to win digital advertising dollars away from Google and Facebook, have been hit particularly hard by the pandemic, despite spikes in readership.

In May, 43 Chicago-based media outlets launched fundraising campaigns to support revenue.

Coincidentally, Facebook invested $100 million in news outlets hit hard by the pandemic in March, while the Google News Initiative announced it would send funding to more than 5,300 small- and medium-sized local newsrooms across the globe late last month. Grants ranged in size from $5,000-$30,000.

The GNI reports receiving more than 12,000 applications from 140 eligible countries.