Three newspapers in western South Dakota, in the northwest United States, will combine to form a weekly newspaper beginning Oct. 22, due to a slowdown in the economy that is causing a downturn in advertising and increase in costs, the Belle Fourche Post & Bee reported Wednesday.

The Valley Irrigator, Belle Fourche Bee and Belle Fourche Post will merge to become the Butte County Post, which will publish on Wednesdays.

The county-wide newspaper is part of a larger effort newspapers in the northern Black Hills are making to share resources, cut down on expenses and strengthen local newspapers, both in print and online, in Butte, Lawrence and Meade counties, according to the article posted on the Bell Fourche Post & Bee's Web site.

“As economic conditions continue to deteriorate resulting in reduced advertising spending and coupled with unprecedented increases in fuel and newsprint costs, it is critical that we reorganize the publishing processes of our weekly newspapers in the Northern Hills communities,” said Brad Slater, publisher of the Rapid City Journal, which owns the newspapers Belle Fourche and Newell newspapers.

The Rapid City Journal is owned by Lee Enterprises, which publishes 50 daily newspapers and more than 300 weeklies and specialty papers in 23 states.

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