Christian Science Monitor prints last Edition Friday

The 100-year-old award-winning newspaper is bowing out of the print publishing business as it prints out its last edition on Friday to shift to web-based publishing as a way of business survival

The award-winning 100 year-old Christian Science Monitor is giving up its print edition on Friday due to decreasing readership and reduced advertising revenues Six months ago the popular newspaper announced that it was closing its print edition but will continue publishing online. Its circulation was down to about 50,000 when the announcement was made. Yahoo news reports:

Editor John Yemma said the award-winning newspaper will still print a weekly edition for subscribers and a printable three-page daily news digest by email but the main focus will be on its website, CSMonitor.com.

He said visitors to the website, which currently attracts more than two million unique visitors a month, should not expect an immediate and dramatic change overnight but a steady improvement over time.

"It's not like we have new flash graphics or anything going up," Yemma told AFP. "I'm sure we'll have to struggle to find our feet in the first couple of days

The new Web-based edition will not charge visitors to its website unlike others including the Wall Street Journal. Early this month a major newspaper, the Seattle Post Intelligencer, gave up its print edition but will continue publishing online. Last month another major newspaper, the Rocky Mountain News, closed shop to join at least six other newspapers that either declared bankruptcy or shifted to web-based publishing. In a related development, a Maryland congressman filed a bill in the US congress to bail out losing newspapers. If the bill becomes a law, losing newspapers will operate as non-profit organizations. The print publishing business is one of the hardest-hit industries in the US that experienced major company closures due the current economic downturn.