Austrian Wiener Zeitung goes to print 1 last time – DW – 06/30/2023

Austria Wiener Zeitung It hit newsstands for the last time as a daily in Vienna and elsewhere on Fridays.

Created in 1703, the newspaper has been in print daily ever since and is one of the oldest surviving newspapers in the world.

“116,840 days, 3,839 months, 320 years, 12 presidents, 10 tsars, 2 republics, 1 sheet,” Friday’s front page reads in large, simple black text.

was reminiscent of B The April 27th edition on learning of the news that the newspaper’s run was coming to an endwhen the years 1703 and 2023 dominate the cover.

In its latest edition, I was interviewed by the newspaper Austrian Pioneer bodybuilder, cinematographer and politician Arnold Schwarzenegger, promoting his new bio and Netflix partnershiplamenting that unlike the “Terminator” character, the newspaper could not claim “I’ll be back”.

What is a file Wiener Zeitung?

First published under the name Wienerisches Darium (Vienna Diary), said the paper in its first edition of August 8, 1703, that it planned to give a sober account of the news “without any rhetorical or poetic gloss”.

Deputy editors Judith Bielke and Thomas Seifert on Friday published an editorial based on the newspaper’s reputation for serious analysis of import topics, and said it would be a loss for Austria’s daily media scene.

“These are tough times for good journalism,” the editorial began. On more and more platforms, serious content is vying for attention Fake news Cat videos and conspiracy theories.

Is it the oldest newspaper in the world?

Partly it depends on how the address is defined, eg whether it still has to be printed on a daily basis or whether it still has to be printed in its home city.

The paper has described itself as the world’s longest running daily newspaper still in print, although many other European publications may seek to claim either this exact award or a similar one, including but not limited to Gazzetta di Mantua (launched 1664) in northern Italy, which admittedly has moved from Mantua to Milan in recent years.

but by Wiener Zeitungarithmetic, and Hildesheimer Allgemeine Zeitung (established in 1705) in the German state of Lower Saxony is now taking over, a claim that seems decidedly uncontroversial among German-language newspapers.

Why is it downsizing?

the Wiener Zeitung It is an editorially independent newspaper but owned by the Austrian government. Its print circulation is strong but modest, about 20,000 on weekdays and about twice that on weekends.

It suffered a sharp drop in revenue when a recent legal change eliminated the requirement for companies to pay to publish changes to the Trade Register in print. This role as an official newspaper became its main source of income, but it was moved to a state-run online registry, as the Austrian government said it was necessary to meet EU standards on providing public information online.

This change eventually forced the newspaper to cut 63 jobs in all, reducing its press staff from 55 to 20 people.

Pelquet and Siefert lamented the missed “opportunity of the century” on the part of the Austrian government to find a “new quality-linked funding model” that could have provided sustainable insurance for it and ORF, which is under pressure.

However, the article’s title and epilogue alluded to the German and the English saying that “hope dies last”, rhetorically asking if “the new government will take advantage of this opportunity again / still / though”.

What then?

The newspaper is not fully resolved. It will still be available online, and plans for a monthly print edition, albeit with details yet to be worked out.

msh/nm (AFP, AP, dpa)