In Minnesota, 'ghost paper' serves a community of 200,000 with a staff of 2

With falling circulation and a news staff that's been slashed almost to nonexistence, the St. Cloud Times is a ghost of the publication that was once one of the best small daily newspapers in Minnesota.

Corporate owner Gannett Co. Inc., heavily in debt and under pressure to reverse revenue declines, has cut staff to the point that only two reporters remain to cover news and events in the central Minnesota region of about 200,000 residents.

"People have always relied on the St. Cloud Times to be the agenda-setter," said Dale Zacher, chair of the Department of Mass Communications at St. Cloud State University. "It's not the civic institution it used to be. It's a sad downward spiral.