The world oldest newspaper, Wiener Zeitung, printed in Vienna, has stopped hardcopy production and has gone fully online.
The newspaper printed its last daily edition on June 30, 2023, nearly 320 years after it began in 1703.
It was reportedly driven off the newsstands because advert revenue has dwindled and cannot sustain the hard copy.
The newspaper has now gone solely online also following a recent law that made it difficult to be profitable as a print product.
The law, passed in April by Austria’s coalition government, ended a legal requirement for companies to pay to publish public announcements in the print edition of the newspaper, thereby terminating Wiener Zeitung’s role as an official gazette.
Report reaching us said that the change had resulted in an estimated €18 million (£15 million) loss of income for the publisher, according to Der Spiegel.
The new law has forced the paper to cut 63 jobs, including reducing its editorial staff from 55 to 20.
The newspaper, according to informed sources, will continue to publish online and is hoping to distribute a monthly print edition.
It was learnt that the plan is still in development.
