Beginning approximately 320 years ago, the world's oldest national newspaper has published its final daily edition on Friday.
Wiener Zeitung, a daily newspaper aimed at Vienna residents, will cease printing daily editions due to a recently changed law that hindered their ability to generate sustainable revenue through daily publishing.
Austria's coalition government passed a law in April, which eliminated the legal requirement for companies to pay for publishing public announcements in the print edition of the newspaper, as reported by The Guardian. Consequently, Wiener Zeitung's primary purpose as an official gazette was no longer applicable.
This change not only resulted in an estimated €18m loss of income for the publisher but also forced the company to reduce its editorial staff from 55 to 20, cutting 63 jobs, according to Der Spiegel, a German newspaper.
The newspaper plans to continue its online publication and intends to release a monthly print edition, although this idea is still reportedly in development.
Owned by the Austrian government, Wiener Zeitung maintains editorial independence. It commenced publication in August 1703 and has witnessed the tenure of 12 presidents, 10 kaisers, and two republics.
Its primary objective was to provide an unbiased account of the news, with no plans to include "oratory or poetic gloss" in its inaugural edition. However, in 1768, it reported on a concert featuring an "especially talented" 12-year-old named Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
Following Austria's defeat in World War I, a special edition was published containing the abdication letter of the last Habsburg emperor, Kaiser Karl.
In its final daily print edition on Friday, Wiener Zeitung published an editorial blaming the government's new law for the end of its print run and stated, "These are stormy times for quality journalism... On more and more platforms, serious content vies for attention with fake news, cat videos, and conspiracy theories."
As of April, its weekday circulation stood at 20,000, which typically doubled on weekends.
Arnold Schwarzenegger, along with former Austrian chancellors Franz Vranitzky and Wolfgang Schüssel, were among its final interviewees.
Věra Jourová, the Vice-President of the EU Commission, expressed her dismay about the situation at the newspaper, stating to the Austrian news agency APA, "I think the Wiener Zeitung played a good role in informing people over the years."
During its three centuries of operation, the newspaper never ceased printing, except for a single forced break. When Hitler took over and Austria was incorporated into Germany, the paper was shut down by the Nazis in 1939. It resumed printing in 1945 under Allied occupation.
Wiener Zeitung competes with Gazzetta di Mantova, a local newspaper first published in 1664, for the title of the world's oldest newspaper. The London Gazette, an official gazette of the UK government that does not report news, dates back to 1665.
Consequently, the German publication Hildesheimer Allgemeine Zeitung, first published in 1705, is now considered the world's oldest surviving national newspaper.
