The Nanaimo Daily News tweeted on Friday that it be closing for good on Jan. 29.

A prominent Vancouver Island newspaper is permanently shutting its doors in a week's time.

After 141 years, the Nanaimo Daily News will close its doors on Jan. 29. We thank our loyal readers and advertisers for their support.

The announcement drew immediate blowback from B.C. journalists.

Brutal. My hometown paper. Thanks for nothing Black Press. https://t.co/YvBSZSgpRV

The Nanaimo Daily News is owned by Black Press, which bought the newspaper from Glacier Media in 2015 , CTV News reported.

George Norris started the Daily News as the semi-weekly Nanaimo Daily Free Press in 1874, according to MemoryBC.

It started publishing daily 14 years later.

Past controversy

The Daily News found itself at the centre of a controversy in 2013, after it published a "racist" letter to the editor about First Nations.

Approximately 100 people protested the publication, including then-Nanaimo mayor John Ruttan.

The newspaper later apologized for the letter, saying it should never have been printed.

Six months later, however, another letter — in which the writer said First Nations were making "outrageous demands for land and taxpayer money" — ran in the paper, reported CTV News.

Publisher Hugh Nicholson said that move was a mistake.