The Albany Journal newspaper, published weekly, will no longer offer print versions and will only be a digital publication. Financial difficulties are to blame as the journal joins numerous other newspapers making this same decision.
But now you'll be able to access the Journal seven days a week and at no cost.
Starting Monday, you will no longer be able to hold The Albany Journal in your hands, but the good news is it will only be a click away.
"We had two choices, we could continue publishing, but online, or we could shut the doors forever," says Tom Knighton, Albany Journal Publisher.
For a newspaper that's been around since 19-39, Knighton knew he couldn't close the doors so he made the move to the Internet.
"We have had a lot of people tell us that Albany needs the Journal, and with that in mind, we made this decision to kind of go in a new direction," says Knighton.
Financial difficulties lead the Albany Journal to suspend print operations and publish solely online.
"This is a conversation that every newspaper has either had or will have," says Knighton.
Knighton took the paper over in November of last year and says the Journal has been losing money for some time now.
"We haven't had a single month we have actually made profit, there has been months we have lost less, in fact we haven't even had a week where we broke even, so the fact that we have managed to keep going this long is a miracle," says Knighton.
He credits most of that to the economy and loss of advertisers.
"When we took over, a lot of advertisers thought that this would be a good time apparently to cease advertising in the Journal," says Knighton.
While this change is a setback, Knighton is looking at it as an opportunity.
He says by moving away from paper and towards the web, he is essentially turning the weekly newspaper into a daily news web site.
"Paper is expensive, it is an extra cost, and more and more people, particularly the younger generation, are getting their news online anyway's," says Knighton.
The print-to-digital conversion will not only cut about 50% of their expenses, but it will also ensure the Albany Journal will have a fighting chance at staying in business.
This print-to-digital conversion is a conversation nearly all newspaper publishers are having or will have.
We tried unsuccessfully to contact the Albany Herald for reaction. As for the subscribers, Knighton says he is taking a look at the best way to pay them back.
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