July 26, 2012

Newsweek to be 'different' in future, chief says

The Associated Press

NEW YORK - The head of the company that owns Newsweek says the publication is examining its future as a weekly print magazine.

click image to enlarge

Will Newsweek be converted to Web-only or morph to, say, Newsmonth? Its owner promises change of some sort.

The Associated Press

During a conference call with analysts Wednesday, IAC/InterActiveCorp Chairman Barry Diller said that while Newsweek's "brand is good" around the world, producing a weekly news magazine in print form isn't easy.

Diller said IAC is examining all options for Newsweek and will have a plan in the coming months. He said little about what those options were. Short of going Internet-only, Newsweek could publish its print editions less frequently.

"I can't tell you in what ways it will be different, but it will be different," Diller said, according to a transcript of the call, which was held to discuss IAC's quarterly earnings.

Magazines and newspapers have been trying to adapt to a world in which readers get more of their information from free websites and advertisers funnel more of their marketing budgets to less expensive alternatives online.

Mounting losses prompted The Washington Post Co. in 2010 to sell Newsweek for $1 to stereo equipment magnate Sidney Harman. Harman died the following year.

Before he died, he placed Newsweek into a joint venture with IAC's The Daily Beast website in an effort to trim the magazine's losses and widen its online audience.

 

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