The Austrian government has decided to stop printing the 320-year-old newspaper ‘Wiener Zeitung’. Recently this decision was taken in the parliament of the country. Although the print edition is closed, the magazine will continue online.
The Washington Post reports that the parliament’s decision will finally settle a years-long dispute between the Austrian government and the newspaper over the future of the state-owned daily newspaper.
In 1703, the newspaper Wienerisches Diarium began to be published. In 1780 it was renamed Wiener Zeitung. The private newspaper was nationalized in 1857 by Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria.
Norbert Hofer, the third speaker of the parliament, said the proposal to close the newspaper in the parliament was “accepted with a majority.”
However, it will initially be published online from July 1, he said. Additionally, depending on funding, at least 10 editions of the Wiener Zeitung may be published each year.
The newspaper will now serve as a media hub and training center for journalists.
Matthias Ziegler, deputy managing editor of Wiener Zeitung, said, ‘Many fear that the government wants to use Wiener Zeitung’s 320-year history as just a name. No one knows what its future will be, whether there will be serious journalism at all.’