Flemish-American Gazette van Detroit to close

The Gazette van Detroit, the sole Flemish-American newspaper in the U.S., is stopping publication, the Detroit Free Press reports. 

The online paper will shut down by December. Its print edition ended in 2015.

"The 3rd and 4th generation descendants of our immigrant ancestors no longer read Dutch in large numbers," says the paper’s website. "Nor do many retain active ties to Europe."

Michigan is the state with the second-biggest number of Belgian descendants, most whom are Flemish. Wisconsin has the most. The Flemish part of Belgium, known as Flanders, is in the north of Belgium. 

Flemish immigrant Camille Fools founded the paper in 1914. These days the paper is run by volunteers, including a Belgian correspondent. They turn out a monthly 24-page publication.

"The role that the Gazette plays wasn’t the same that it was 100 years ago," said Trui Moerkerke, a Belgian journalist who worked on articles for the paper. "I think it’s amazing what they did for more than a century, and it’s really a great accomplishment."

News and Tech