Lidové noviny to end print run after 130 years

Media conglomerate Mafra announced today that it will cease printing Lidové noviny, one of the country's oldest newspapers, by the end of August.

Subscribers won't be left empty-handed, however. They'll receive the daily Mladá fronta Dnes at no extra cost, along with access to iDNES Premium's online content for a symbolic 1 Czech crown until the end of this year.

Lidové noviny's website, lidovky.cz, is set for a significant expansion, with a focus on opinion pieces - a nod to the paper's rich tradition of commentary that readers have come to value.

The paper's crown jewel, the "Orientace" weekend supplement, which draws thousands of Saturday subscribers, will find a new home in the weekend edition of Mladá fronta Dnes come September.

Founded in Brno in 1893, Lidové noviny has weathered storms including a forced closure under communist rule in 1952. It resurfaced as an underground publication in the late 1980s before resuming daily publication in 1990 after the Velvet Revolution.