Newspaper prints its last daily edition

BOSTON (AP) — As the final daily issue of the 100-year-old Christian Science Monitor was put to bed Thursday, the newspaper was planning its rebirth as a weekly.

Meanwhile, the Monitor's free Web site will get more frequent updates from dozens of its reporters, who will be expected to quickly post material to the site and take video and gather audio.

Editor John Yemma hopes these changes will help the seven-time Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaper boost its $12.5 million in annual revenue, even with the recession. The transition caps two years of preparations for the newspaper, whose average circulation is fewer than 50,000 — down from a peak of 223,000 in 1970.

The Boston-based nonprofit publication wants to lessen its reliance on subsidies, which totaled about $20 million last year. About $6.8 million came from its endowment fund and $13.3 million from its owner, the First Church of Christ, Scientist.

Subscriptions for the new weekly, dated April 12, will cost $89 a year, down from $219 annually. But Yemma said that by moving to weekly from daily publication, the Monitor will reduce costs by $10 million. The Monitor also will sell an e-mail newsletter for a fee that has yet to be determined.