'Oldest newspaper in circulation' to end print run

Vienna: Austria's Wiener Zeitung, one of the world's oldest newspapers still in print, will primarily move online, after a decision by the country's parliament on Thursday.

The development comes after a years-long dispute between the Austrian government and the newspaper about the destiny of the state-owned newspaper.

Established in 1703 under the title Wiennerisches Diarium, and later renamed Wiener Zeitung in 1780, the previously private bi-weekly publication was nationalised by Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria in 1857, becoming the country's official gazette.

"It is adopted with a majority," Norbert Hofer, the third president of the parliament, said of a new law to primarily move the publication online from July 1.

The paper will maintain a minimum of ten print publications per year, depending on the funds available.

The Wiener Zeitung was 2004 ranked as one of the oldest newspapers still in circulation, the World Association of News Publishers said.

The newspaper's role as the official gazette which is also its main source of revenue will move to a different state-owned online medium.

The government asserted that this was in line with a European declaration to consolidate and disseminate official information online.

Meanwhile, the Wiener Zeitung will launch a media hub, a content agency, and a training centre for correspondents.

"Some fear that the government just wants to keep the Wiener Zeitung brand with its 320-year-old history, while nobody knows what the future publication will look like -- whether it will still be serious journalism," its vice managing editor Mathias Ziegler told AFP.

Almost half of the newspaper's over 200 employees, including 40 journalists, could be laid off, according to its trade union.

The Wiener Zeitung has a circulation of about 20,000 on weekdays and about twice as much on weekends.

EU Commission Vice-President Vera Jourova told Austrian news agency APA that she was "not happy with the situation".

"I think the Wiener Zeitung played a good role in informing people over the years".

Several hundred people took to the streets in Vienna on Tuesday to protest the government's move.