The final weekday edition of the French-language newspaper La Presse has rolled off the presses, marking the end of an era in paper-format news.
Montreal-based La Presse, Quebec’s second-largest French-language newspaper, is going all-digital in 2016, with the exception of a Saturday print edition.
The newspaper, which was founded in 1884, has seen advertising revenue decrease 60 per cent over the last decade, as its readership declined.
But the newspaper’s digital tablet edition, La Presse Plus, has a readership of between 225,000 and 240,000, which is about three times as many as the paper edition.
La Presse deputy publisher Eric Trottier said the newsroom is looking forward, not back.
“I’m looking forward to the end of the print edition because, for me, it will mean that our project to cross over to the tablet edition has been a success,” Trottier told The Canadian Press.
Ad sales for the newspaper’s app have also been outperforming the paper version.
La Presse is well-positioned to make the leap to all-digital, as a French-language digital paper means less competition for readers.
Last fall, La Presse announced it would reduce expenses. As a result, 158 jobs were eliminated.
With files from The Canadian Press
