As The Daily Beast wrote, the new online publication will be, “…targeted for a highly mobile, opinion-leading audience who want to learn about world events in a sophisticated context.”
The option of online readership has crossed the minds of many other print publications, but it has been considered a risk to publish only online content because journalists are still figuring how to make money without print. Subscriptions to Newsweek Global will continue so the company will continue to bring in revenue through online readers.
The magazine has been in business since 1933 and has published over 1.5 million issues. Now they will add continual updates to their website rather than publishing a new issue every week.
“Our business has been increasingly affected by the challenging print advertising environment,” wrote The Daily Beast “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.”
Magazines and newspapers are struggling with the transition to the digital world. Some are dropping writers or covering issues on certain days of the week, while others are facing bankruptcy for the loss of the former subscribers who have now adapted to easy-access news on the Web. That Newsweek can survive purely through the contributions of online readers shows that there may be hope for journalism’s survival in a digital world.
