Newsweek, one of the world's most iconic magazines, will become a digital-only publication at the end of this year.
After 80 years, the final print issue current affairs bible will be released on December 31 in the United States.
Following that, all regional versions of the publication will also be shuttered and will fall under the new Newsweek Global title.
Loyalists will now be able to subscribe to Newsweek Global via the web or mobile devices, while some content will still be available for free on the partner The Daily Beast website.
Challenging print environment
In a statement published on The Daily Beast website, Tina Brown, editor-in-chief of The Daily Beast and Newsweek and Baba Shetty, CEO of The Newsweek Daily Beast Co. said the growth of online news and the 'challenging print environment' was behind the decision.
The statement read: "The Daily Beast now attracts more than 15 million unique visitors a month, a 70 percent increase in the past year alone—a healthy portion of this traffic generated each week by Newsweek's strong original journalism.
"At the same time, our business has been increasingly affected by the challenging print advertising environment, while Newsweek's online and e-reader content has built a rapidly growing audience through the Apple, Kindle, Zinio and Nook stores as well as on The Daily Beast.
"Tablet-use has grown rapidly among our readers and with it the opportunity to sustain editorial excellence through swift, easy digital distribution—a superb global platform for our award-winning journalism."
Is any mag safe?
The decision, which will come as a shock to some, represents the sheer magnitude of the shift towards digital news.
If famed publications like Newsweek find it difficult to remain profitable in the iPad-era then surely no title is safe?
Via The Daily Beast
