In a news release today, Sun Media announced it is shutting down the Montreal Mirror.

The current edition of the weekly will be its last.

"The growing popularity of digital media and communications has irremediably changed the context in which free cultural weeklies operate, bringing about economic challenges which have unfortunately compromised The Mirror's viability," the statement said.

Seven employees will be laidoff and two others will be transferred into other parts of the Sun Media corporation.

The Montreal Mirror has been a Montreal publication since 1985, it calls itself the "longest running alternative news weekly in Montreal."