(THE HILL) — The Chicago Sun-Times left its front page blank in a plea for subscribers on Monday in an effort to “protect the long-term survival” of its newsroom.

The unorthodox appeal comes one month after the 174-year-old newspaper completed a round of layoffs as it struggles with falling advertising revenue from its print edition.

The Sun-Times has been working to build digital subscriptions for content that readers in the past have gotten for free.