Latvian newspaper Diena to be published weekly from 2027
The Latvian newspaper Diena will come out once a week, at 48 pages, starting next year. Editor-in-chief Gatis Madžiņš cites lower print delivery costs as the reason.
The Latvian daily newspaper Diena will be published only once a week from next year, on Wednesdays, with 48 pages per issue. Editor-in-chief Gatis Madžiņš confirmed this to the news agency LETA. The change also affects the paper's supplements, so it touches all readers of the print edition.
What is changing
An editorial statement published in Diena's supplement, the magazine SestDiena, says 2027 is approaching with new challenges. Fluctuations in energy and fuel prices, it says, are placing an additional financial burden on both families and businesses. To keep the newspaper accessible, the editorial team decided to change how it is published.
The editors promise that the total volume of content for readers will stay the same; only the frequency of delivery will change. Changes are also coming for SestDiena and the supplement Kultūras Diena: their content will be merged into a single cultural publication, delivered to readers on Fridays.
The editor's explanation
Madžiņš stresses that the volume, quality and diversity of content will be preserved, while print delivery costs fall with the move to a weekly format. He says the decision was made so that the volume and quality of the print content would not have to be cut.
Madžiņš also criticises the media support programmes of the Society Integration Foundation, for which the publisher has not qualified for years. In his words, these programmes "widely sponsor clicks and noise rather than journalism". The publisher says it continues to prioritise content, quality journalism and the availability of print media.
The publisher
According to Firmas.lv data, Dienas bizness, the company that publishes Diena, was registered in 1993 and has share capital of 821,344 euros. Its owners are Madžiņš (24.5%) and Walburg (75.5%), a company of Estonian businessman Mait Laidvee.
On 9 January 2025 the publisher signed an agreement with the Central Finance and Contracting Agency for support to modernise media companies' processes, financed by the Recovery Fund. The project aims at digital transformation; by 30 June 2026 it was to introduce two mobile apps and two Smart TV apps and expand the functionality of existing platforms, including the subscription system.
