100-year old Christian Science Monitor to stop daily newspaper

29 October 2008

The century-old seven times Pulitzer award winner Christian Science Monitor will become the first nationally distributed newspaper in the US next year to stop publishing a daily print edition to cut its operatring deficit of $18.9 million per year against revenue of $12.5 million, and shift its focus on online publication at CSMonitor.com that is updated continuously each day.

The current changes is projected to lower the net operating loss to $10.5 million by 2013 which will bring the church subsidy down to $3.7 million.

The Monitor which currently rolls out its print circulation Monday through Friday has een its circulation plumet to 52,000 from 220,000 in the '70s. It is primarily delivered by US mail, and will stop publication and move online in April next year but it will bring out a weekend magazine in print in addition to daily e-mail editions.

This new, multiplatform strategy for the Monitor will "secure and enlarge the Monitor's role in its second century," said Mary Trammell, editor in chief of  the Christian Science Publishing Society and a member of the Christian Science board of directors. Trammell also said that the method of delivery and format are secondary" and need to be adjusted to keep the Monitor "abreast of the times."

The coming changes, over two years in the planning stage, have come at a time of fundamental transition in news publishing, which is witnessing the rise of the onliune medium thab has led to several large US dailies losing out on circulation.

According to the Monitor, by stopping its print circulation and focusing on its online edition, it will save millions in addition to widening its audience.