《新闻周刊》将全面数字化
在
记录美国社会79年之后，《新闻周刊》(Newsweek)将在今年12月底出版最后一期印刷版，然后全面数字化。
Newsweek
图片：《新闻周刊》封面故事
《新闻周刊》发行量已经下降至150万份，比2005年少了一半左右。其广告页面减少超过80%，年度亏损额在最近达到4,000万美元左右。
《新闻周刊》于1933年由《时代》杂志(Time)的一位前编辑创办，数十年来很多美国家庭的咖啡桌上都少不了它。从越南战争到电影评论，它让人们对各方面的最新情况都有所了解。1961年，华盛顿邮报公司(Washington Post Co.)收购了《新闻周刊》。但互联网加速了这份杂志的衰退。
Associated Press
1951年出版的《新闻周刊》。这份拥有79年历史的杂志将在年内抛弃印刷版。
哈曼去年去世。今年6月，哈曼家族撤走对《新闻周刊》的财务支持，IAC掌握多数股权，并继续提供资金支持。
《新闻周刊》、Daily Beast总编辑蒂娜•布朗(Tina Brown)接受采访说，虽然6月份以来他们就在研究"以一种非常激进的方式"抛弃印刷版，但促成转型的不是哈曼家族的撤股决定，而是行业趋势。布朗说，这不是一个要不要转型的问题，而是一个什么时候转型的问题。她在Daily Beast网站上发表声明说，抛弃印刷版的决定涉及的是"纸质出版与发行在经济上面临的挑战"。
IAC董事长巴利•迪勒(Barry Diller)在6月份的一次财报电话会议上暗示，终止印刷版的工作可能正在进行。他说，《新闻周刊》这个品牌不错，问题在于一本新闻类周刊的"生产和制作"。
在引起员工的强烈不满之后，布朗和迪勒很快收回这些话。布朗向员工发了一份备忘录，说关于《新闻周刊》打算在9月份全面数字化的报道是"危言耸听"。
但在本周四，布朗在解释周刊为什么要数字化时，她的话跟迪勒当初差不多。
据Newsweek Daily Beast Co.的CEO巴巴•谢蒂(Baba Shetty)说，通过抛弃印刷版，《新闻周刊》预计会节省"数千万美元"的遗留印刷和发行成本。
布朗暗示270名员工将有人被裁。她说，这次裁员的范围将在未来几周确定。
尽管如此，此举也是一场赌博。如果印刷版订户不改订新的数字产品，那么省下的成本可能就抵不上广告收入的损失。目前《新闻周刊》纯网络版的订阅量只有2.7万份左右，不过谢蒂预计，未来一年这个数字将增至数十万。
谢蒂说，在这次转型中，公司将不再向广告商保证最低会有多少读者。这一行业惯例正是很多杂志人为压低订阅年费的原因。不做这个保证，《新闻周刊》就会拥有提高订费的灵活性。
新产品"《新闻周刊》全球版"的数字订费将是单期4.99美元，与杂志价格一样；年订阅费24.99美元，比目前《新闻周刊》网站上印刷版每年39美元的订费便宜。但业内经理人预计第一年主要是做定价实验，《新闻周刊》将在其中摸清消费者究竟愿意给多少钱。
谢蒂说，这次转型的经济理由显然是遗留成本问题，在抛弃这一切成本负担之后，我们对业务的积极一面越来越乐观。
《新闻周刊》此举将受到期刊业的大范围密切关注。业内其他领军品牌曾直言不讳地表达增加订费收入、减少对广告依赖的愿望。这正是《新闻周刊》在这次转型之中将会实现的转变。
《新闻周刊》此举将使新闻杂志领头羊《时代》杂志失去长期以来的印刷版对手。据报刊发行量统计所(Audit Bureau of Circulations)数据，《时代》杂志拥有330万的发行量。周四上午，《时代》杂志执行总编里克•施滕格尔(Rick Stengel)对MSNBC说：《新闻周刊》作为我们唯一竞争对手的时代肯定是已经过去了。
《时代》品牌目前以多种形式存在，而施滕格尔将印刷版称为该品牌的"核心"。但他也承认，印刷版制作、发行成本仍是最高。
其他纯网络出版物的遭遇有好有坏。原先的新闻类周刊《美国新闻与世界报道》(US News & World Report)在2008年全面数字化，据主编布里安•凯利(Brian Kelly)说，公司已经盈利，有员工180人。据comScore数据，由于其出版的大学排名很受欢迎等原因，网站一个月的独立访问人数在590万左右。但它基本上都是免费。
要求付费订阅的网络出版物则经营得比较困难。新闻集团(News Corp)旗下以订费为基础的平板电脑报纸《Daily》在今年7月份不得不裁员三分之一，离创刊才18个月。新闻集团拥有《华尔街日报》的出版商道琼斯公司(Dow Jones)。
出版商Conde Nast总裁鲍伯•索尔伯格(Bob Sauerberg)说，纯数字付费项目能做到举足轻重的不会很多。不过他也说，他对"付费数字内容的前景"感到乐观。
KEACH HAGEY
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Newsweek to End Print Edition
The switch will make Newsweek the most widely read magazine yet that has given up on the print media, a signpost of how traditional print news outlets are being battered by an exodus of readers and advertisers to the Web.
Since 2005, Newsweek's circulation has dropped by about half to 1.5 million and advertising pages plunged more than 80%, while the magazine's annual losses had lately reached roughly $40 million.
Founded in 1933 by a former Time editor, Newsweek was ever-present on the coffee tables of many American homes for decades, keeping people abreast of everything from the Vietnam War to movie reviews. In 1961, it was bought by Washington Post Co. But the Internet accelerated a downward spiral.
Two years ago Washington Post Co. WPO +0.18% sold the magazine for $1 to Sidney Harman, an audio equipment tycoon who a little while later merged the magazine with IAC/InterActiveCorps the Daily Beast website.
Mr. Harman died last year. In June Mr. Harman's family pulled its financial support from the venture, leaving IAC to continue funding it as the majority owner.
Tina Brown, editor in chief of Newsweek/Daily Beast said in an interview that while they had been exploring dropping print 'in a very aggressive way' since June, it was industry trends, not the family's decision, that prompted the shift. 'It was only a question of when, not if,' Ms. Brown said. In a statement on the Daily Beast's website, she said the decision was 'about the challenging economics of print publishing and distribution.'
Barry Diller, chairman of IAC, hinted on an earnings call in June that the end of print publication might be in the works, saying 'the brand is good' but 'the problem is manufacturing and producing a weekly newsmagazine.'
After an outcry, Ms. Brown and Mr. Diller quickly walked back those words, with Ms. Brown sending a memo to staff calling reports that Newsweek planned to go online-only in September 'scaremongering.'
But on Thursday, Ms. Brown echoed Mr. Diller's words when explaining why the title would indeed be going digital.
By forgoing print, the magazine expects to cut 'tens of millions of dollars' in legacy printing and distribution costs, according to Baba Shetty, CEO of the Newsweek Daily Beast Co.
Ms. Brown indicated there would be cuts to the staff of 270. The extent of such cuts will be decided 'in the next few weeks,' she said.
Still, the move is a gamble. The cost savings are likely to be offset by a loss of advertising revenue if print subscribers don't switch to the new digital product. Only about 27,000 of Newsweek's subscriptions are online-only right now but Mr. Shetty expects that to grow to 'hundreds of thousands' over the next year.
As part of the change, Mr. Shetty said the company will no longer promise advertisers a 'rate base,' or guaranteed minimum number of readers─a common industry practice that is responsible for the artificially low annual subscription rates at many magazines. By dropping the guarantee, Newsweek will have the flexibility to raise subscription prices.
Digital subscriptions to the new Newsweek Global will cost $4.99 for a single copy, the same price as the magazine, or $24.99 for an annual subscription─cheaper than the $39 annual print subscription now offered on Newsweek's website. But industry executives expect the first year to be filled with pricing experimentation, as the company figures out what consumers are actually willing to pay.
'The economic rationale for this change is clearly the legacy costs,' said Mr. Shetty. 'Unburdened by all those costs, we are increasingly optimistic of the upside of the business.'
Newsweek's move will be watched closely throughout much of the magazine industry. Other industry leaders have been vocal about their desire to increase subscription revenue and become less reliant on advertising, a transition that Newsweek will make in this switch.
The move leaves Time Magazine, the leader in the newsweekly space, with a circulation of 3.3 million, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, without its longtime print rival. Time Magazine Managing Editor Rick Stengel told MSNBC Thursday morning that 'we've certainly moved past seeing them as a single competitor.'
Mr. Stengel called Time's print edition the 'centerpiece of the brand' that now exists in many formats, but conceded that it 'still is the most expensive single thing' to produce and deliver.
Experience of other online-only publications is mixed. US News & World Report, originally a newsweekly, went online-only in 2008, and is profitable with 180 staff members, according to editor Brian Kelly. Partly thanks to its popular college rankings, its web site draws about 5.9 million unique visitors a month, according to comScore. But it is largely free.
Online publications requiring a paid subscription have struggled. The Daily, News Corp NWSA +0.87% .'s subscription-based tablet newspaper, had to lay off a third of its staff in July, just 18 months after it was launched. News Corp. also owns Dow Jones, the publisher of The Wall Street Journal.
'You won't find a lot of pure digital-only subscription programs that are significant,' said Condé Nast President Bob Sauerberg, although he added that he was optimistic about 'the promise of paid digital content.'
KEACH HAGEY
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