Rupert Murdoch's Australian flagship media group News Corp announced Wednesday it will stop printing around 60 regional newspapers, as the troubled sector received a fresh blow from a COVID-19 advertising downturn.
News Corp said papers in the states of New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and South Australia would cease printing and move online.
"We have not taken this decision lightly," News Corp Australasia Executive Chairman Michael Miller was quoted as saying by the group's Australian newspaper title.
"The coronavirus crisis has created unprecedented economic pressures and we are doing everything we can to preserve as many jobs as possible."