Newsweek (and Daily Beast) editor Tina Brown announced Oct. 18, 2012 that the long-time news weekly (is that redundant?) would put out its last paper edition on Dec. 31, 2012.
After that date, it will be named Newsweek Global and be a digital only subscription publication for tablets and the web.
In the announcement, Brown and Newsweek Daily Beast CEO Baba Shetty wrote:
Exiting print is an extremely difficult moment for all of us who love the romance of print and the unique weekly camaraderie of those hectic hours before the close on Friday night. But as we head for the 80th anniversary of Newsweek next year we must sustain the journalism that gives the magazine its purpose—and embrace the all-digital future.
This announcement is at odds with one made by Brown in September when she told employees that reports that Newsweek were going all-digital was “Scaremongering,”
According to Folio, which covers the magazine industry, Newsweek had been losing print readers even while the Daily Beast (which contains Newsweek content) was gaining readers and had growing revenue.
Newsweek’s print edition had been on a death watch for sometime, with a number of over-the-top covers, some of which were on stock photos.