Newsweek magazine announced today that it is closing the book on its print edition. In 2013, the publication will transition to any entirely digital offering, with the Dec. 31 issue being the last print edition.
Newsweek Global, as the all-digital publication will be called, will be available to paid subscribers through e-readers for both tablet and the Web, with select content available on The Daily Beast.
While Newsweek will "expand its rapidly growing tablet and online presence," layoffs are expected.
"Regrettably we anticipate staff reductions and the streamlining of our editorial and business operations both here in the U.S. and internationally," wrote Tina Brown, editor-in-chief of Newsweek and The Daily Beast, and Baba Shetty, CEO of The Newsweek Daily Beast Co., in a posting. "We remain committed to Newsweek and to the journalism that it represents," they wrote.
They noted challenges in print advertising as well as "a tough period of ownership transition and media disruption."
Washington Post Co. (NYSE: WPO) sold Newsweek (and its liabilities) to audio magnate Sidney Harman in 2010 for $1.
Brown and Shetty said that according to a Pew Research Center Study, 39% of Americans now get their news from online sources.
