Media Briefs: Three Newspapers Switch to Online Only

The tide of doom in the newspaper industry didn’t take a break over the Christmas/ New Year period, with three newspapers announcing their intention to quit print publishing for an online only presence.

Spanish-language weekday paper Hoy Nueva York made the jump December 30, with staff cuts of 16. Owner Impremedia owns several other Spanish-language titles, including El Diario La Prensa in New York and La Opinión in Los Angeles, although for the time being the others continue to be printed.

San Francisco based AsiaWeek will print its last physical copy Friday (9 January) after nearly 30 years of publication. Staff cuts if any are not known. Editor and publisher Ted Fang said the move was due to economic difficulties.

The biggest of the three switching online only is the Kansas City Kansan, a previously free daily (more recently bi-weekly) servicing Kansas City. The paper was founded in 1921. Notably the Kansas City Kansan is owned by Gatehouse Media, indicating that the struggling newspaper group may be willing to switch to an online only format with some titles, even while suing people for linking to them. The switch online only will coincide with an overhaul of the Kansas City Kansan’s website that will embrace community participation, including photo sharing and the ability to post press releases, in a format the paper describes as being “more like a blog.”