Newsweek May Stop Weekly Circulation

NewsMax ^ | 1/17/09

[Sammy67]

Battered by a one-two punch of declining readership and ad pages, Newsweek magazine is getting an extreme makeover this year that will include a large circulation reduction, deep cuts in operating costs, and a new effort to attract advertisers by concentrating on an elite audience.

According to The New York Times, executives at Newsweek say the retooled magazine will focus on being a "thought leader" that focuses on telling readers how to think about news, rather than telling people what happened in the last week. The plan, similar to the editorial outlook espoused by The Economist magazine, is aimed at helping the newsweekly better compete in the face of competition from cable TV and the Internet. The transformation will likely include more analysis, commentary, and news-related feature articles.

“We’re not in the business of telling people the news,” Richard Stengel, managing editor of Newsweek's rival Time, told the Times. “News has become a commodity. They already

[wardaddy]

Time is worse...if that’s possible

[TET1968]

Credit God and Bush.

[Allegra]

Battered by a one-two punch of declining readership and ad pages, Newsweek magazine is getting an extreme makeover this year that will include a large circulation reduction, deep cuts in operating costs, and a new effort to attract advertisers by concentrating on an elite audience.

That's what they've been doing.

It's why they're in such well-deserved financial trouble now.

[alaskamomma]

Propagandaweek would be a better name for them.

[KStorm]

“Telling readers what to think about news”...

I think that’s been quite evident for as long as I can remember.

[LostInBayport]

executives at Newsweek say the retooled magazine will focus on being a "thought leader" that focuses on telling readers how to think about news

That has been their 'focus' for over two decades now...I guess with King Obama ascending the throne they no longer feel a need to keep up the pretense of being 'reporters'.

A "thought leader" that tells readers how to think. Mr. Orwell, please pick up the white courtesy phone. Mr. Orwell...

[mountn man]

And where do you suppose they are going to drum up an elite audience from? They don’t have one now.

I'm sure the ones who read flip through it, view themselves as elites.

[GeronL]

focuses on telling readers how to think about news, rather than telling people what happened in the last week.

so whats the difference??

Let them go out nof business... sounds like their going to be even more liberal.

[y6162]

Newsweek "thought leader"

[FlingWingFlyer]

Wasn’t Josef Goebbels a “thought leader”? IIRC, Pravda and TASS were “thought leaders” also.

[longtermmemmory]

translation: Newsweek to become an editorial blog with no audience interaction.

[Dr. Bogus Pachysandra]

“concentrating on an elite audience.”

Should be “effete audience!”

[eartotheground]

They keep sending it to MY (doctor) office and I told them to knock it off. I didn’t order their crummy socialist rag and I wasn’t going to help them “channel stuff” in order to artifically inflate their circulation numbers. Elite my ass it’s a magazine for morons.

[dirtymac]

So now they are going to quit slanting the news or selectively printing the news or selectively presenting facts of the new and are going to start telling us how to interpret the news. Great! Their past business model has worked out so well they are going to dig into it really deep. These guys are as smart as the executives at Circuit City and GM.

[sirchtruth]

According to The New York Times, executives at Newsweek say the retooled magazine will focus on being a "thought leader" that focuses on telling readers how to think about news, rather than telling people what happened in the last week.

LOL! They already do this and that's why they're failing! It's truly unbelievable. These people are such foolish IDIOTS.

[GeronL]

Saw it a few months ago at my dentists office

Butg those had Jimmy Carter on the cover didn't they? /sarc

[Pharmboy]

Deck chairs.

Titanic.

[Nick Danger]

Thump. Thump. Thump. Another one bites the dust.

[SusaninOhio]

If the elite need to be told what to think, they better be ensuring (monetarily) that their mind-molding magazine does well.

Who will tell them what to think if Newsweek is gone?

THis could be critical.

[Attention Surplus Disorder]

Newsnanosecond.