AsianWeek ends print version

Posted by Leah McBride Mensching on January 8, 2009 at 5:17 PM

Free weekly newspaper AsianWeek, based in San Francisco, published its last print edition Friday, and is now an online-only publication, the San Francisco Chronicle reported last week.

The online edition will continue to publish special reports and host events, but tough economic times led the newspaper to end the print version, said Ted Fang, editor and publisher of the newspaper, which has a target audience of Asian Americans.

"There are fewer major newspapers, fewer newspaper readers and fewer newspaper advertisers than ever before," Fang and his brother, James Fang, the president of the company, wrote in a letter to readers published in Friday's edition. "A faltering economy has accelerated the decline."

Nearly all of the newspaper's 11 employees will lose their jobs as a result of closing the print version, the Chronicle reported. The newspaper had a circulation of 58,000, 95 percent of which were picked up by readers.

Ted Fang told the Chronicle that the print edition is just one way to reach readers, and that the digital edition is increasingly growing as part of a global trend toward getting news online. Additionally, Asian Americans "have led the way in the digital revolution, migrating away from print media and into receiving their news and information electronically," he said.