The century-old seven times Pulitzer award winner Christian Science Monitor will become the first nationally distributed newspaper in the US next year to stop publishing a daily print edition to cut its operatring deficit of $18.9 million per year against revenue of $12.5 million, and shift its focus on online publication at CSMonitor.com that is updated continuously each day.

The current changes is projected to lower the net operating loss to $10.5 million by 2013 which will bring the church subsidy down to $3.7 million.

The Monitor which currently rolls out its print circulation Monday through Friday has een its circulation plumet to 52,000 from 220,000 in the '70s. It is primarily delivered by US mail, and will stop publication and move online in April next year but it will bring out a weekend magazine in print in addition to daily e-mail editions.

This new, multiplatform strategy for the Monitor will "secure and enlarge the Monitor's role in its second century," said Mary Trammell, editor in chief of  the Christian Science Publishing Society and a member of the Christian Science board of directors. Trammell also said that the method of delivery and format are secondary" and need to be adjusted to keep the Monitor "abreast of the times."

The coming changes, over two years in the planning stage, have come at a time of fundamental transition in news publishing, which is witnessing the rise of the onliune medium thab has led to several large US dailies losing out on circulation.

According to the Monitor, by stopping its print circulation and focusing on its online edition, it will save millions in addition to widening its audience.

The move will be watched closely by other newspapers declining sales and advertising revenue, which have been resorting to cutting costs by laying-off staff.

The present editorial staff will engage in all the three publications - website, weekly print edition, and daily e-mail edition thereby making a modest reduction in editorial staff which is 95 at the moment.

Current Christian Science Monitor editor John Yemma said that the Monitor would maintain its current level of international and domestic coverage, with bureaus throughout the globe, and still have a strong presence in Washington  as it had a distinct competitive advantage while other news organisations are cutting back on staff coverage from outside their circulation regions.

New busines model
Yemma said in a video on CSMonitor.com that "Within the media industry in general, I think there's a real recognition that the ... old business model for print journalism is broken, it's very difficult to distribute - to print, to cut down the trees, to bring the ink, to run the presses, to drive the trucks, to distribute a print newspaper product."

"The Christian Science Monitor finds itself uniquely positioned to take advantage of developing technologies, market conditions, and news consumption habits that can dramatically increase its relevance, reach, and utility; place it on a sound financial footing; and allow it to pursue its unique mission of providing global perspective and illuminating the human dimension behind international news," Yemma added.

The Monitor is planning to change its design on CSMonitor.com in what Yemma said will be the first step to "a much more robust Web presence," which will see a constant update of the latest news and said he wants more communication between readers and Monitor staffers to "build a community of people who care about the values the Monitor stands for."

The Christian Science Monitor, started in 1908 by Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of the Church of Christ Scientist, is a non-profit conservative newspaper financed by Christian Science church for most of its 100 years existence, but is not a religious paper as its name implies, nor does it promote the doctrine of its patron church.

In the Monitor's first edition, Eddy defined the scope and tone of the newspaper's journalistic mission, writing that it should "injure no man, but bless all mankind." The Monitor, which celebrates its 100th anniversary on 25 November had been the subject of a searing legal and journalistic attack by Joseph Pulitzer's New York World. Officials of her church had a professional news organization up and running in just over 100 days.

The paper also had to overcome initial opposition by those who thought the religious reference might not go down well with a secular audience.

The Monitor, which was originally published in broadsheet form but later changed to tabloid format, was the pioneer in putting its text online way back in 1996 and also one of the first to launch a PDF edition in 2001 as the print edition was not able to enhance readership and the newspaper has struggled since the 1960s to enlarge its circulation and turn a profit with the church also putting pressure on it constantly to turn the fortunes of the paper.

The future
"In the Monitor's next century, as with its first century, it is committed to finding answers to the world's most important problems, asking the questions that matter and getting the story behind the news - all of which is staying true to Mrs. Eddy's unselfish, original vision," Yemma said. "The Monitor's role is right there in its name. It's to monitor the world, to keep an eye on the world from a perspective of hope."

• Producing a website that can be updated 24/7 and delivered instantaneously "better fulfills Mrs. Eddy's original vision" for the Monitor to be daily than does a five-day-a-week paper delivered by mail with frequent delays.
• Focusing resources on the fast-growing Web audience for news rather than on the economically troubled daily newspaper industry "increases the Monitor's reach and impact." The Monitor's website currently attracts about 1.5 million visitors a month.
• Eliminating the major production and distribution costs of a daily newspaper will allow the Monitor to "make progress toward achieving financial sustainability" while supporting its global news resources.

Attaining these goals over the next five years would provide stability and continuity for Monitor journalism over the long run, said Yemma, who took office as the Monitor's editor in July after holding a number of editorial positions at the Boston Globe. Throughout the news industry, he added, publications are struggling with the profound disruption brought on by the Internet and the rising costs of newsprint and transportation.

The Monitor has required a subsidy from the Christian Science church for most of its history. The church will provide a subsidy of $12.1 million from its general fund, with earnings from the Monitor Endowment Fund and donor contributions to the Monitor's operating fund covering the balance. The changes in strategy are projected gradually to decrease the Monitor's net operating loss to $10.5 million in 2013, so the church general fund subsidy will be $3.7 million, said managing publisher Jonathan Wells.

"Changes in the industry - changes in the concept of news and the economics underlying the industry - hit the Monitor first," given its relatively small size and the complex logistics required for national distribution, said managing publisher Jonathan Wells (See: Note from the managing publisher). "We are sometimes forced to be an early change agent."

The prospect of going online had its advantages as it overcame the severe cost and logistical difficulties of mailing out a daily international newspaper.

The newspaper circulation in the US is declining at a fast rate with daily circulation at 16 of the 25 biggest papers falling more than 5 per cent in September compared with a year ago, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations. The decline was due to companies pulling back in advertising amid a credit crunch and a slowdown in the economy.

Profitability has nose dived at all the major newspaper groups this year with the New York Times Co, said it was considering axing its dividend, after credit rating agencies downgraded its debt to junk status.

Most newspapers have started to cut costs by scaling down newsroom budgets, cutting jobs and reducing the number of sections their papers publish.

On Tuesday, the US largest newspaper publisher, Gannett Co. Inc., said it plans to cut about 3,000 employees. The Los Angeles Times on Monday laid off 75 newsroom employees after cutting 130 staff in July and the Newark Star-Ledger, New Jersey's largest daily, announced it will cut about 40 per cent of its newsroom staff.