Newsweek to cut staff: Report

NEW YORK: Leading US publication Newsweek magazine is planning to reduce its headcount as part of efforts at a major makeover, the Wall Street Journal says.

Quoting people familiar with the magazine, the Wall Street Journal said, "Newsweek magazine is planning staff cuts as part of a major makeover that is likely to result in a
slimmer publication with fewer subscribers and more photos and opinion inside its pages."

The Washington Post Co business is expected to outline the cuts today in two meetings, the daily added. WSJ said it isn't clear how many jobs will be eliminated this time, though it won't be nearly as many as 111 that Newsweek had shed earlier.
    
Newsweek is also considering other dramatic changes, including significantly reducing its rate base. Besides, the magazine could subtract anywhere from 500,000 to one million copies from its current guarantee of 2.6 million, the daily said quoting familiar sources.

Newsweek is seeking in part to mirror publications like the Economist, which has thrived in a tough market by focusing less on costly news gathering than on driving discussions of issues, the daily added.
    
So far this year weeklies have proven to be particularly vulnerable to the loss of advertisers and readers. Time magazine's ad pages are off 17 per cent and Newsweek is down an estimated 21 per cent, with one fewer issue this year, according to trade publication Mediaweek.

Accordingly, both Time, part of Time Warner Inc, and Newsweek already have cut staff and their rate bases in the past two years. 

Unlike Time, which is profitable, Newsweek is losing money and has overhauled its management in the past year amid pressure to turn the corner.
    
WSJ said Newsweek could benefit from targeting a smaller group of readers for reasons beyond reducing its printing and delivery costs. Some industry veterans think news weeklies must shed even more readers -- and charge more for remaining copies -- to garner an audience for which advertisers will pay a premium.
    
It's unclear whether another contraction of readership is the answer to the newsweeklies' problems, the report said, adding "Time executives say their magazine isn't contemplating a rate-base cut, and others close to Newsweek say the push to
replicate the Economist is risky because it is difficult to change a 75-year-old publication's DNA."