Losses force Newsweek to shut print edition,will be only online from 2013

You cannot change an era of enormous disruptive innovation,says Tina Brown

DAVID CARR & CHRISTINE HAUGHNEY

Newsweek,the weekly magazine that for decades summarized the news for households across the US but struggled to maintain relevance in the Internet era,announced on Thursday that it would cease print publication at the end of the year.

Tina Brown,founder of the Daily Beast website and the driving force behind its merger with Newsweek,announced the move in a message on the Daily Beast.

Newsweek will transition to an all-digital format in early 2013. As part of this transition,the last print edition in the United States will be our Dec. 31 issue, Brown said in a message co-written with Baba Shetty,the recently hired chief executive. Regrettably we anticipate staff reductions…

The all-digital version of the magazine will be called Newsweek Global and operate on a paid subscription model.

Founded in 1933,Newsweek established a venerable place in the American media landscape,competing ferociously with Time to bring news to several million readers. But as the weekly publication cycle became outdated,both magazines struggled to adapt to the Internet age,while facing a decline in advertising and circulation.

In 2001,Newsweek had a total paid circulation of 3,158,480,but as of June 2012,circulation had fallen to 1,527,157.

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Losses at the magazine have been reported to be about $40 million a year,and Barry Diller,the chairman of IAC,which owns both The Daily Beast and Newsweek,made it clear he would not underwrite the losses forever.

Brown said Thursday that she had little control over what was happening in the broader industry. You cannot actually change an era of enormous disruptive innovation, she said. No one single person can reverse that trend.