In the first of what could be a series of print newspaper closings, the Christian Science Monitor has announced the end of its daily print format and its switch to a Web-based publication. Starting April 2009, the 100-year-old news organization will no longer publish daily physical newspapers and will focus its content on the Internet. It will, however, publish a weekly print magazine.
The new daily edition of the Monitor will be available by paid subscription and delivered as a PDF file via e-mail Monday through Friday. The weekly print edition will cost $3.50 per copy or $89 for a year's subscription. The print edition will feature more in-depth content on high quality 10-by-12-inch paper.
The majority of the decision is based on money. The Monitor is a nonprofit financed by a church and delivered through the mail, and has seen a steady decline in readership over the past 40 years. For it to be the first print newspaper to close makes sense in these circumstances, and may not herald the immediate foreclosure of other, wealthier news organizations.
For years, the newspaper industry has declined in profit and subscriptions, as newsmongers more often than not log onto the Internet to get their daily fix. In the era of RSS feeds and constantly updating blogs, physical newspapers are hard pressed to compete against the sheer volume of material and wide range of sources. By mid-afternoon, most print dailies are old news.
With its decision to go online-only, the Monitor not only stabilizes its finances -- allowing better funding for journalism abroad -- but it also enters its second century at the forefront of the digital revolution. This move may be seen to some as the Internet "killing" a venerable, century-old publication. To me, it's the evolution of modern journalism; a logical and progressive step in the direction many more will approach in the years to come.
''The Christian Science Monitor'' has announced plans to cease daily print publication. The newspaper employs 95 correspondents and 8 foreign bureaus and has won 7 Pulitzer Prizes, making it the most prominent newspaper to transition to online publication.  It is due to celebrate its one hundredth anniversary later this month.  The move has other major newspapers wondering whether this is the future of mainstream journalism.


Editor John Yemma stated "It is the future for many papers, but because we are not-for-profit we are not exactly a model for for-profit publications."  The ''Monitor'' receives its funding from the Christian Science Church, but is nonsectarian and does not proselytize, and the Church has no say in its editorial policy.  The newspaper was founded in 1908 by Christian Science founder Mary Baker Eddy as a reaction against partisan journalism.

The new publication format will be a website updated daily, with subscribers receiving e-mail briefs of major stories and a 44 page weekly magazine.  According to a report in ''The Independent'', the weekly magazine "will carry separate original content."  The ''Monitor'' has made this announcement as a response to rising print publication costs and falling subscriptions.  The actual changeover from a Monday through Friday publication five days a week to a single weekly magazine will occur in April 2009.  

Yemma predicts that within the next five years, economic constraints will force most other newspapers to make similar changes.  A small number of local newspapers made similar changes before the ''Monitor'' announced its plans.  Two examples are ''The Capital Times'' and ''The Daily Telegram'' respectively of Madison, Wisconsin and Superior, Wisconsin.

Ken Doctor of Outsell Inc. assessed the economic situation for ''The New York Times''.  92 percent of a typical newspaper's revenue comes from its print edition, so the cost of ceasing print publication exceeds the benefit in savings for most newspapers.  The ''Monitor'' has an unusual funding profile, with significant resources coming from an endowment and donations.  Most of its print revenue comes from subscriptions rather than from advertising.  Nonetheless, industry trends led Brennon Slattery of ''PC World'' to predict this may be the first of a series of major print newspaper closings.