After twenty-five years of providing satirical headlines, articles, and features, some of them meant to take a stab at politics or religion, others simply intended to be pointlessly funny, The Onion will no longer be available in print.
According to an article on the move to digital by Lynne Marek for Crain’s Chicago Business, the paper has been slowly phasing out some of its print markets for some time, reduced finally to being available on paper in only three US cities. Most of its readership has been consuming the content online.
While this type of transition often has industry watchers concerned about the state of publishing in its various forms, this move is actually quite positive. Marek demonstrated that The Onion had already been receiving a larger portion of its revenue from its digital advertising, with only two full page ads printed in the most recent paper edition. Other newspapers around the country that are currently experiencing this level of upheaval and shift can take a lesson from this example, if they’re willing to.
Following the final print edition in mid-December, The Onion will shift its focus to building its online presence and on its video production arm of the company.
Mercy Pilkington is a Senior Editor for Good e-Reader. She is also the CEO and founder of a hybrid publishing and consulting company.