The Capital Times, an afternoon newspaper in Madison, Wis., announced on its Web site Thursday that it was moving to an all-Internet edition in a transition that could be the first of its kind in the struggling newspaper industry, the Associated Press reported.

The move includes publishing twice-weekly free print editions, cutting jobs and offering buyout packages to employees.

This is the first daily newspaper of any stature or prominence to basically move to all-Internet distribution, Joe Strupp, senior editor at Editor & Publisher, told the Associated Press.

“It’s not a surprise, because the Web has become such a major factor for newspapers, and I think clearly the way they’re going to survive is do more and more on the Web,” Strupp said.

The Capital Times began publishing in 1917. Since 1948, it has been published under a joint operating agreement with Davenport-based Lee Enterprises Inc. The newspaper and the Lee-owned Wisconsin State Journal share printing facilities but have separate newsrooms.

“We can sit here and do things the way we have been for the past 92 years, and pretty soon we’re going to be talking to ourselves,” said Dave Zweifel, the paper’s editor since 1983. He will move to the position of editor emeritus and be replaced by Executive Editor Paul Fanlund.

Zweifel expects at least 40 jobs to be cut, but he said he did not know how many would come from the 60-person newsroom. With a much less frequent print edition, staff will also be cut in the press room and in circulation, he said.

The newspaper promotes itself as Wisconsin’s progressive news source. Columnist and Associate Editor John Nichols is a frequent contributor to The Nation magazine.

“That’s the whole purpose of this, to carry on the progressive heritage of the paper,” Zweifel said.

Under the changes, The Capital Times will publish a news and opinion edition on Wednesday and an arts, entertainment and culture section on Thursdays. The two editions reduce the paper’s print frequency from six days a week. Both editions will be delivered with the morning editions of the Wisconsin State Journal and offered for free in newspaper racks in Madison.