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Newsweek turns to digital-only publication

Newsweek turns to digital-only publication

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Final US print edition coming December 31st

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iOS Newsstand with Newsweek
iOS Newsstand with Newsweek

Long-running publication Newsweek is shifting to an all-digital format, Editor-in-Chief Tina Brown and CEO Baba Shetty announced today on sister site The Daily Beast. Newsweek will end its US print run on December 31st, and future editions will be released under the moniker Newsweek Global, a subscription-based online magazine for tablets and browsers. Some content will also be released through The Daily Beast, which Brown and Shetty say has seen a 70 percent increase in traffic this year to 15 million unique monthly visitors."We can most efficiently and effectively reach our readers in all-digital format."

"We have reached a tipping point at which we can most efficiently and effectively reach our readers in all-digital format," they explain, insisting that the move means they "are transitioning Newsweek, not saying goodbye to it." Despite this, "streamlining" of editorial and business operation means they expect to lay off an unspecified number of workers. The move, however, was far from unexpected: back in July, media executive Barry Diller said that Newsweek's manufacturing costs could push it online, and Brown said that in 2013, there would be "many options to choose from."

Newsweek, currently nearing its 80th year of publication, is one of the best-known weekly publications in the US, but it's been struggling to reinvent itself in recent years, with a sale, a major redesign, and a merger with The Daily Beast. If it succeeds as an online-only publication, it could stand in contrast with the reportedly underperforming Daily. It remains unclear, though, what the move means for the magazine's notoriously provocative covers, including "Muslim Rage" and "Why Surrender is a Feminist Dream."