Nearly 320 years after it was first published, Wiener Zeitung, the oldest national newspaper in the world, produced its last issue. A recent legislation change caused this daily newspaper, which is situated in Vienna, to lose money as a print product, hence it will no longer produce daily editions. The coalition government in Austria enacted the measure in April. It abolished a legal requirement that businesses pay to make public notifications in the newspaper's print version, ending Wiener Zeitung's function as an official gazette, according to the sources. The newspaper first appeared in 1703. Despite being controlled by the Austrian government, it has an autonomous editorial staff. According to a report in Der Spiegel, the legislative change caused an estimated â18 million (â15 million) loss of income for the publisher.
Additionally, it compelled the newspaper to eliminate 63 positions, including the editorial team, which went from 55 to 20. The newspaper's daily print version has been discontinued, but it will still continue to be published online and it plans to release a monthly print edition. On Friday, the last daily print issue was released. It published an editorial declaring that "these are stormy times for quality journalism," blaming the government's new law for the publication's demise. Serious material competes for attention with false news, kitten videos, and conspiracy theories on an increasing number of platforms. It is now believed that the German daily Hildesheimer Allgemeine Zeitung, which first appeared in 1705, is the oldest national newspaper still in existence.
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