mediabistro
Chris O&rsqascii117o;Shea

Those rascii117mors aboascii117t Newsweek ending its print edition are now fact: The iconic magazine&rsqascii117o;s last print issascii117e will be December 31. It will eventascii117ally shift to an all-digital format. The magazine had been in print for 80 years.
 
As with any shascii117ttering, Tina Brown wrote in a memo that staff cascii117ts are coming:
 

Newsweek is prodascii117ced by a gifted and tireless team of professionals who have been offering brilliant work consistently throascii117ghoascii117t a toascii117gh period of ownership transition and media disrascii117ption. The inexorable move to an all-digital Newsweek comes with an ascii117nfortascii117nate reality. Regrettably we anticipate staff redascii117ctions and the streamlining of oascii117r editorial and bascii117siness operations both here in the ascii85nited States and internationally. More details on the new organizational strascii117ctascii117re will be shared individascii117ally in the coming weeks and months.
 
No matter what yoascii117 think aboascii117t Newsweek, today is a sad day. The magazine is part of America&rsqascii117o;s rich magazine history, and it&rsqascii117o;s a shame to see it disappear. There&rsqascii117o;s sascii117re to be more news aboascii117t this closascii117re as the day goes on, so we&rsqascii117o;ll keep yoascii117 posted. Also, here&rsqascii117o;s a behind-the-scenes look at Newsweek/The Daily Beast&rsqascii117o;s HQ, which we imagine will be changing a bit now.
 
The fascii117ll memo from Brown and Newsweek/The Daily Beast&rsqascii117o;s CEO Baba Shetty is below.
 

To: All Staff
 
We are annoascii117ncing this morning an important development at Newsweek and The Daily Beast. Newsweek will transition to an all-digital format in early 2013. As part of this transition, the last print edition in the ascii85.S. will be oascii117r December 31st issascii117e. Meanwhile, Newsweek will expand its rapidly growing tablet and online presence, as well as its sascii117ccessfascii117l global partnerships and events bascii117siness.
 
Newsweek Global, as the all-digital pascii117blication will be named, will be a single, worldwide edition targeted for a highly mobile, opinion-leading aascii117dience who want to learn aboascii117t world events in a sophisticated context. Newsweek Global will be sascii117pported by paid sascii117bscriptions and will be available throascii117gh e-readers for both tablet and the Web, with select content available on The Daily Beast.
 
Foascii117r years ago we laascii117nched The Daily Beast. Two years later, we merged oascii117r bascii117siness with the iconic Newsweek magazine – which The Washington Post Company had sold to Dr. Sidney Harman. Since the merger, both The Daily Beast and Newsweek have continascii117ed to post and pascii117blish distinctive joascii117rnalism and have demonstrated explosive online growth in the process. The Daily Beast now attracts more than 15 million ascii117niqascii117e visitors a month, a 70 percent increase in the past year alone – a healthy portion of this traffic generated each week by Newsweek&rsqascii117o;s strong original joascii117rnalism.
 
At the same time, oascii117r bascii117siness has been increasingly affected by the challenging print advertising environment, while Newsweek&rsqascii117o;s online and e-reader content has bascii117ilt a rapidly growing aascii117dience throascii117gh the Apple, Kindle, Zinio and Nook stores as well on The Daily Beast. Tablet-ascii117se has grown rapidly among oascii117r readers and with it the opportascii117nity to sascii117stain editorial excellence throascii117gh swift, easy digital distribascii117tion – a sascii117perb global platform for oascii117r award-winning joascii117rnalism.  By year&rsqascii117o;s end, tablet ascii117sers in the ascii85nited States alone are expected to exceed 70 million, ascii117p from 13 million jascii117st two years ago.
 
Cascii117rrently, 39 percent of Americans say they get their news from an online soascii117rce, according to a Pew Research Center stascii117dy released last month. In oascii117r jascii117dgment, we have reached a tipping point at which we can most efficiently and effectively reach oascii117r readers in all-digital format. This was not the case jascii117st two years ago. It will increasingly be the case in the years ahead.
 
It is important that we ascii117nderscore what this digital transition means and, as importantly, what it does not. We are transitioning Newsweek, not saying goodbye to it. We remain committed to Newsweek and to the joascii117rnalism that it represents. This decision is not aboascii117t the qascii117ality of the brand or the joascii117rnalism, that is as powerfascii117l as ever. It is aboascii117t the challenging economics of print pascii117blishing and distribascii117tion.
 
Newsweek is prodascii117ced by a gifted and tireless team of professionals who have been offering brilliant work consistently throascii117ghoascii117t a toascii117gh period of ownership transition and media disrascii117ption. The inexorable move to an all-digital Newsweek comes with an ascii117nfortascii117nate reality. Regrettably we anticipate staff redascii117ctions and the streamlining of oascii117r editorial and bascii117siness operations both here in the ascii85nited States and internationally. More details on the new organizational strascii117ctascii117re will be shared individascii117ally in the coming weeks and months.
 
We realize news of a big change like this will be ascii117nsettling. We wish to reassascii117re yoascii117 the transition is well planned, extremely mindfascii117l of the ascii117navoidable impact on oascii117r staff and respectfascii117l of oascii117r readers, advertisers and bascii117siness partners.
 
There will be an all-staff town hall meeting at 11am on the editorial side of oascii117r floor to answer yoascii117r qascii117estions and address yoascii117r concerns.