Capital Times scraps print paper and moves online

Staff suffer as US afternoon newspaper, The Capital Times, says goodbye to the printed page and moves online.

The newspaper, which has been publishing since 1917 and reached circulation figures of 17,000 will now be an online publication, with the exception of a twice-weekly free print edition. It is expected that news staff will be cut from 60 to 45, along with cuts to circulation.

Editor and publisher, Joe Strupp, told media that the decision was made out of necessity and was the only way to compete in an electronic world. "It's not a surprise because the web has become such a major factor for newspapers and I think clearly the way they're going to survive is do more and more on the web," he said, adding: "That doesn't necessarily mean everyone's going to go web-only in the next five to ten years."

Australian publishers, such as Pacific Magazines and Fairfax Media have both launched online-only publications, Red Zero and Brisbane Times, but print publications have so far not been completely relocated to the internet.