The Christian Science Monitor will stop publishing its print newspaper next year after 100 years of publication to focus on its Web site and a weekly news magazine, which it plans to launch in April 2009, the publication announced Tuesday. The move is expected to save the paper US$1.5 million to $2 million a year.

The Boston-based newspaper has been considering closing down its print edition for about two years, and made the decision this month. The Monitor will be the first national U.S. newspaper to close its print version in favour of its Web site, the paper stated in an article on its Web site.

“Journalism that seeks to bless humanity, not injure, and that shines light on the world's challenges in an effort to seek solutions, is at the centre of (founder) Mary Baker Eddy's vision for the Monitor. The method of delivery and format are secondary,” said Mary Trammell, editor-in-chief of the Monitor, according to the newspaper.

The Monitor is delivered mostly through mail subscriptions, and has seen its print circulation continuously drop for about 40 years. However, “the Monitor's Web readership clearly shows promise,” said Judy Wolff, chairwoman of the Board of Trustees of The Christian Science Publishing Society, according to the Monitor's article.

Wolff said the Monitor has three goals driving its new strategy:

1.To publish news on a continuously updated Web site that “better fulfils Mrs. Eddy's original vision” than the daily weekday publication delivered by mail, which is delayed often. 2.Put resources into the online audience instead of into print to increase “the Monitor's reach and impact,” as its online version attracts 1.5 million uniques per month. 3.Eliminate daily production and distribution costs involved with producing a daily print product while also making “progress toward achieving financial sustainability.”

Editor John Yemma told Forbes on Tuesday that the Monitor will cost $25.8 million to operate this year, but is expected to bring in just $12.5 million in revenue. Currently the site makes up 9 percent of the newspaper's revenue, and is expected to bring in $1.1 million in ad sales by the end of 2009.

The new magazine will cost $89 for a subscription for a year, or $2 per copy. “...the Monitor is betting it can sustain a staff if it can boost circulation to 85,000 over the next few years,” the Forbes article stated.