World’s oldest paper to go out of print and onto the net

STOCKHOLM: The world's oldest newspaper is to go out of print and will in future only be published on the Internet, the paper said on its web site.

The Post Och Inrikes Tidningar, the official Swedish publication for bankruptcies, company and government announcements, has been published daily since 1645.

According to the World Association of Newspapers, this makes it the world's oldest.

As of January 1, 2007, the information will be published on the website of the The Swedish Companies Registration Office (SCRO).

Roland Hoglund, head of the SCRO, saw the step as positive.

''It is exciting, but it is also an important task as the newspaper has played an extremely important role when it comes to legal information,'' Hoglund told Swedish news agency TT on Friday.

''It will be much more accessible.''

All is not lost, however. Three paper copies of the paper will be printed and stored in university libraries to keep the tradition alive.