Even after more than a decade of covering the local news industry, it still takes me time to remember to get off social media, my phone, national news and wherever else I’m getting information and go directly to the source — the people who live there, who pay taxes there, who worship and shop and vote and raise their families there.
In the last few weeks, that source has been journalists and newsrooms in Minnesota after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers shot and killed Renee Good and Border Patrol officers shot and killed Alex Pretti.
This matters in a time when local newspaper newsrooms continue closing around the country, when local journalists continue innovating and working to keep people informed, and as trust has declined for both national and local media, according to an October 2025 report from the Pew Research Center.
Still, Pew reports, “trust in local news organizations remains higher than trust in national news organizations among Americans of all ages.”
Here is an incomplete list of newsrooms worth following, a little about them and how to support them when possible. And check out this piece from the American Press Institute’s Yoni Greenbaum on four ways to help journalists in Minneapolis right now.
- The Minnesota Star Tribune – This 157-year-old daily newspaper and news site used to be known as the Minneapolis Star Tribune but rebranded to cover the state.
- Donate to the Minnesota Star Tribune Local News Fund.
- MinnPost – This nonprofit newsroom focuses on in-depth reporting. It first started publishing in 2007.
- Donate to MinnPost.
- Sahan Journal – This nonprofit newsroom was founded in 2017 and is “dedicated to reporting for immigrants and communities of color in Minnesota.”
- Donate to Sahan Journal.
- Minnesota Public Radio – This public radio station and news site has been covering Minnesota since 1973.
- Donate to MPR News
- St. Paul Pioneer Press – This daily newspaper and news site covers the Twin Cities and appeared in its earliest form in 1849.
- Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder – This newspaper and website, which was first launched as two publications in 1934, is Minnesota’s oldest Black-owned newspaper.
- Donate to MSR.
- The Minnesota Daily – This nonprofit student-led newsroom reports out of the University of Minnesota. It first started publishing as a literary magazine under a different name in 1877.
- Donate to MN Daily.
- Minnesota Reformer – This online, nonprofit newsroom is part of the States Newsroom, a collection of statewide nonprofit newsrooms. It first launched in 2020.
- Donate to Minnesota Reformer.
- Eden Prairie Local News – This nonprofit news site launched in 2020.
- Donate to Eden Prairie Local News.
- Axios Twin Cities – This daily newsletter and news site is part of the Axios brand, with Axios newsrooms in more than 30 metros. The Twin Cities publication launched in 2021.
- Become an Axios Twin Cities member.
- KARE 11 – This NBC-affiliated TV station and website first launched as an AM radio station in 1925.
- KMSP – Known as Fox 9, this broadcast station and website first launched in 1953.
- KSTP – This ABC-affiliated TV station and website first started broadcasting in 1948.
- WCCO – This CBS-affiliated TV station and website first started broadcasting in 1949.
- MN Patch – This news site is part of the larger Patch network. It first started publishing in the state in 2010.
- Forum Communications – Forum Communications operates a number of print and online publications across the state. The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead was founded in 1891.
- Sun newspapers – These weekly newspapers and their site include Sun Sailor, Sun Current and Sun Post cover some Minneapolis suburbs. They’re owned by Adams Publishing Group, which first opened in 1976.
If you know of any newsrooms covering the Minneapolis metro and Minnesota right now that I didn’t include, please email me and let me know.
