Newsweek goes Digital

By Cassidy Krinzman '13

For the first time in its 80-year history, Newsweek Magazine, citing rising costs and the changing nature of journalism, announced its plans to move entirely online by Dec. 31.

In a statement released in USA Today, Newsweek editor-in-chief Tina Brown said that the company is making the right move.

"This decision is not about the quality of the brand or the journalism--that is as powerful as ever," Brown said. "It is about the challenging economics of print publishing and distribution."

The magazine gained particular notoriety in the 1950s under Managing Editor Ben Bradlee, who would eventually oversee Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein’s reporting on the Watergate scandal.

The Washington Post Company, facing growing financial troubles, decided to sell the magazine in 2010.

Palmer Trinity Librarian Ruthanne Vogel says that tablets provide a great way for publications to thrive in the digital age. But she also has some reservations.

“I don’t want to see print go away because some people don’t have access to these devices,” she said.

Senior Falconer Managing Editor Steven Angueira ’13 approves of the change.

“I am glad that Newsweek is finally following The Falconer’s lead,” Angueira said, half-jokingly. “I think publishing news online is probably going to be the future of journalism.”

But there is disagreement among book lovers.

Associate Librarian Lois Chumbley feels that moving the publication online is “terrible.”

“There is just something nice about not having to turn on a piece of equipment every time you want to read something.”