Shillong, July 2: The Wiener Zeitung, the world’s oldest national newspaper, has printed its final daily edition, ceasing its print product due to recent legislative changes that rendered it unprofitable.
The Vienna-based daily newspaper, which began publishing in 1703, has been affected by a law change passed by Austria’s coalition government in April. The law eliminated the requirement for companies to publish public announcements in the print edition of the newspaper, resulting in the termination of Wiener Zeitung’s role as an official gazette.
Owned by the Austrian government but maintaining editorial independence, Wiener Zeitung has faced significant financial challenges due to the law change. It is estimated to have incurred a loss of approximately €18 million (€15 million) in income for the publisher. As a result, the newspaper has been forced to cut 63 jobs, including reducing its editorial staff from 55 to 20.
While the daily print edition of Wiener Zeitung has come to an end, the publication will continue to operate online and intends to distribute a monthly print edition. In its final daily print edition, the newspaper published an editorial attributing the end of its print run to the government’s new law. It emphasized the challenges faced by quality journalism in today’s digital landscape, where serious content competes with fake news, cat videos, and conspiracy theories across various platforms.
With the conclusion of Wiener Zeitung’s print edition, the title of the world’s oldest surviving national newspaper is believed to now belong to the German publication Hildesheimer Allgemeine Zeitung, first published in 1705.
