Grupo Nacion, the most powerful media group in Costa Rica, is restructuring its operations by shutting down two daily newspapers and a monthly magazine. Sports daily Al Dia will cease publishing in late November and home design magazine Su Casa will circulate for the last time in December. The other news daily being axed is Ahora, which was a trial newspaper that aimed to reach younger middle class readers as a complement to La Nacion, a publication often considered to be the newspaper of record in Costa Rica.

Earlier today, spokesperson Maria Antonieta Chaverri confirmed that 100 employees from Grupo Nacion are losing their jobs due to the ongoing restructuring, which corresponds to an announcement made by the company in 2013 with regard to a revision of its media brands. There will be a strong shift towards strengthening the online presence of the prestigious news daily La Nacion, business weekly El Financiero and daily tabloid La Teja. These three brands still enjoy a print run, but media observers are wondering if the end is near for the paper versions of those publications.

The Colegio de Periodistas (Board of Journalists) issued a statement of solidarity for the 100 workers who were laid off by Grupo Nacion. In recent years, the Board has been extremely worried about the future of the journalism profession in Costa Rica, a nation that enjoys one of the highest levels of press freedom in Latin America. Of particular note is the fact that the trial run of Ahora did not feature too much journalism to begin with; it mostly published lifestyle and sponsored content, news stories from wire services and recycled articles from La Nacion.

Grupo Nacion plans to unveil new smartphone and tablet apps of its remaining brands, which include the Perfil (lifestyle) and Sabores (cooking) monthly magazines. Media observers believe that the next publication to drop its print run will be El Financiero, which will turn 20 next year. The company also intends to increase its online sponsored content and white label publishing lines of business.