WORLD’S OLDEST NEWSPAPER STOPS PRESSES

The world’s oldest daily newspaper, the Wiener Zeitung, based in Vienna, has printed its final edition, 320 years after first appearing in 1703.  

The newspaper says a new law by the government allowing companies to publish their notices online, rather than in the newspaper, robbing it of €18m of valuable income, is behind the decision.

The move echoes that of the Victoria government, which last month said it would no longer be advertising in state and national newspapers, pulling $40m from the industry and sending shivers through publishers.

Joint-editor of Wiener Zeitung, Thomas Seifert, blasted the move by the Austrian government as a “media-political act of vandalism by cultureless barbarians”.

Wiener Zeitung has published continually since 8 August 1703, save for the six years Austria became part of Germany from 1939-45. Among its editorial highlights was a report in 1768 on a talented 12-year-old performing at a local concert; his name was Mozart.

The final front page said simply '116,840 days, 3,839 months, 320 years, 12 presidents, 10 Kaisers, 2 republics, 1 newspaper' in simple large black text.

The newspaper will continue online, but has now sacked two-thirds of its journalists.