A week ago I mentioned that U.S. News and World Reports was ceasing print operations. But another interesting on-line news story that has been developing over the last week is the decision of Tina Brown, managing editor at both Newsweek and the news blog/aggregator The Daily Beast, to merge the two brands into one site. (Though Newsweek will also continue to be published as the print magazine of that name.)
The decision has proven somewhat controversial, as shown by the emergence of a “Save Newsweek.com” Tumblr blog. However, Brown insists that “Newsweek.com’s superb content will live on under its own banner & in URLs on the new site. Not shutting down, combining."
This is not the first change to hit Newsweek’s website this year. We reported in April that Newsweek had ceased hosting its own website and was moving to Amazon’s web-hosting cloud, redesigning its site at the same time. In August, 92-year-old audio magnate Sidney Harman bought Newsweek (and its debts) from the Washington Post Co. for $1.
But Harman seems to be happy about merging with Barry Diller’s Daily Beast:
"In an admittedly challenging time, this merger provides the ideal combination of established journalism authority and bright, bristling website savvy," Harman said in a statement. "I like partnering with Barry Diller and I look forward to building our company."
Of course, Newsweek employees are justifiably nervous at the prospect of the merger, given that any merger involves eliminating redundant positions.
To me, what’s interesting about this is the symbolism it represents. Newsweek, a respected weekly newsmagazine that has been going on for as long as I can remember, and one of the major names that essentially epitomizes the old journalism guard, is being absorbed by a recent start-up site that is all about delivering news the Internet way. Can there be any clearer indicator that “the times, they are a-changin’”?
