Brazilian newspaper eliminates its print edition

Posted by Clara Martínez Turco on July 14, 2010 at 2:46 PM

The Jornal do Brasil, one of the oldest newspapers in the country, will stop publishing its print edition Sept. 1 and will be only available online, the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas reported yesterday.

"The decision to end the print version was taken this week," Nelson Tanure, principal investor of the daily, confirmed to O Globo. Jornal do Brasil informed its readers about the interruption of circulation with a full page ad published today.

In June, the newspaper had published an ad inviting readers to participate on an online survey regarding the possible publishing change. However, the final decision was expected for August, when the results of the survey were going to be published.

According to the local press, Tanure's decision is an attempt to solve the daily's financial problems and its low print circulation, which has fallen to 17,000 copies during the week and 22,000 on Sundays, the Knight Center explained.

Nonetheless, the executive director of the National Association of Newspapers Ricardo Perera said the decline of Jonal do Brasil's circulation was a rare case. Since the beginning of the year, newspaper circulation in Brazil has increased by 1.5 percent, Hora Zero reported.

The daily, which in 1995 became the first Brazilian newspaper to launch an online edition, published its first edition in 1891.