After 80 Years, Newsweek to Abandon Print Edition and Go All-Digital
By Rob Scott
October 19, 2012
October 19, 2012
- Newsweek editor-in-chief Tina Brown has announced that the 80-year-old publication will abandon its print magazine at the end of December. Starting next year it will be offered exclusively online and as a mobile app.
- “Founded in 1933, Newsweek’s ‘turn of the page,’ as Brown calls it, comes just two years after its merger with Web-only outlet The Daily Beast,” reports Digital Trends. The December 31 issue will be the magazine’s final physical edition in the U.S.
- “The publication will be renamed Newsweek Global, with a single edition created for the world market,” explains the post. “Like The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, the majority of Newsweek Global’s content will only be available with a paid subscription, though select content will still be accessible for free on The Daily Beast.”
- Newsweek has reportedly been losing $40 million a year. The digital transition is expected to include staff reductions and streamlining of business operations.
- “Currently, 39 percent of Americans say they get their news from an online source, according to a Pew Research Center study released last month. In our judgment, we have reached a tipping point at which we can most efficiently and effectively reach our readers in all-digital format,” notes Brown. “This was not the case just two years ago. It will increasingly be the case in the years ahead.”
- “This decision is not about the quality of the brand or the journalism — that is as powerful as ever,” contends Brown. “It is about the challenging economics of print publishing and distribution.”
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