[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 108 (Tuesday, June 22, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4693-S4694]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              RECOGNIZING THE INTERNATIONAL FALLS JOURNAL

 Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Madam President, today I rise to honor and pay 
tribute to the International Falls Journal, the local newspaper of the 
International Falls and Koochiching County communities that has 
provided timely, trustworthy, and thorough reporting to Minnesotans for 
the past 110 years. On June 24, 2021, the International Falls Journal 
will sadly publish its final edition.
  Founded in 1911 by Clarence Burton Montgomery as The Daily Journal, 
the then-daily paper has been a community staple since its start, 
informing locals of who was born and who died, local business news, and 
what happened at city council and school board meetings. Through 
different disasters and crises, The Journal made sure they delivered 
the news to their readers. In 1988, a fire ripped through its office on 
a Friday night, claiming most of the building and everything inside, 
including the paper's equipment. Still, that Monday and for weeks 
following the fire while the outlet was without printers, the paper was 
published as planned. This was 38 years after the great flood of 1950, 
when--you guessed it--the paper still ended up on their readers' 
doorsteps despite the unprecedented circumstance.
  The paper went through several owners before landing in the hands of 
Arlin Albrecht and Phil Duff, The Journal's current publishers, who 
purchased the paper in 1974.
  Regardless of ownership, locals have always been able to count on The 
Journal. International Falls Area Chamber of Commerce President Tricia 
Heibel said it well: ``From births, deaths, marriages, school events 
and sporting highlights, from lost pets to everything else, it was just 
a really central communication tool.''
  As the daughter of a newspaperman, I grew up knowing just how 
important local newspapers like the International Falls Journal are. In 
fact, it is thanks to the presence of a local newspaper--the Duluth 
Herald--in my dad's childhood home that my grandmother spotted his 
interest in storytelling when he was just 12. Local papers played an 
irreplaceable role in my father's life, as they continue to today for 
countless readers.
  But today, newspapers of all sizes are struggling and closing. Ad 
revenue for U.S. newspapers plummeted from $49.4 billion in 2005 to 
$14.3 billion in 2018. During that time, two other companies, Facebook 
and Google--worth over $2.4 trillion combined--became advertising 
titans. These two companies don't just control the majority of online 
advertising; they have built power over the news and crushed local news 
outlets along the way.
  With the closure of The Journal, we are once again seeing the impacts 
of this firsthand. We can't stand by and watch this happen to our 
independent press. That is why I have introduced bipartisan legislation 
to let news publishers join together to negotiate fair terms with these 
giant digital corporations. We must give independent papers the chance 
to compete.
  But even as we work to ensure other papers are able to keep their 
lights on, the International Falls Journal is a reminder of the value 
of local journalism. For more than a century, it has empowered its 
readers by providing them with accurate, relevant information about 
their communities. It has captured moments big and small that together 
tell a beautiful story of the region that will live on.
  Even as it closes its doors, generations will benefit from the legacy 
it leaves behind.

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