After some months of speculation, it was confirmed today that Newsweek, the American weekly, would not live to see its 80th birthday in its current form. The last print edition will be published on December 31st. In 2013 Newsweek will be rebranded Newsweek Global, run exclusively online and on tablet devices and charge for content. A few articles will be available for free on the Daily Beast, a website which merged with Newsweek in 2010 and does not have a paywall.
But why stop printing so soon? This is where Newsweek’s owners come in.
In 2010 the Washington Post sold Newsweek to Sidney Harman, a
92-year-old billionaire, for $1 and $47m in assumed liabilities. He died last
year, and this summer his family announced they would no longer invest in the
magazine and the website. Barry Diller, a savvy media investor who runs
IAC/InterActiveCorp and the other owner of Newsweek, probably did not
want to stomach the magazine’s losses alone. It will reportedly lose as much as
$22m this year. The costs of running a digital publication are much less. Some
jobs will also be axed.
