Even on its deathbed, Newsweek’s breathed its last print words in the language of its conqueror: Twitter.
The 80-year-old magazine — which has ceased to be a print publication and will switch to a digital-only format in the new year — ran a Twitter hashtag on its cover “#LastPrintIssue,” with a vintage photo of its Manhattan office building in the background.
The cover is an obvious attempt to reconcile the past with the future but ends up as sad commentary on Newsweek’s struggle to integrate print and digital.
Newsweek never seemed at home in either world since it merged with the digital Daily Beast, owned by Barry Diller’s IAC/InterActiveCorp.
Editor Tina Brown acknowledged the challenge that remains in her tweet referring to the cover: “Bitter sweet! Wish us luck! #LastPrint Issue.”
The slimmed-down Newsweek Daily Beast, which laid off about 60 people in recent days, is still expected to lose around $20 million next year.
Some readers were less kind in terms of their reaction to the hashtag on the cover. “Like using your final breath to ID the killer,” wrote one Twitter user @Sacco.
In a sign of the times, however, the newsmagazine’s tablet sales increased four-fold year-over-year.
Caught between two worlds, Newsweek also struggled to find its voice. The magazine that once set the agenda on weighty topics was an odd fit with the irreverent Beast.
As a consequence, the magazine ended up vacillating between deadly serious and silly stunts, such as the “Diana at 50” cover that paired the deceased princess with Kate Middleton.
The final issue is mostly a eulogy, a collection of essays and remembrances by many of its famous former byliners who set the agenda of their day.
Much is poignant, although some comes close to maudlin. The lengthy “oral history” of Newsweek will probably only be of interest to former staffers and even then the reaction might be a shrug.
Current and former writing heavyweights — including Evan Thomas, Michael Isikoff and David Ansen — sound off on topics that can best described as a greatest hits compendium. They offer up a nice ode to the publication even as they underscore Newsweek’s heyday and slump into near-irrelevance.
Founded in 1933 and run for decades by America’s wealthiest families of the day — the Whitneys, Mellons and Harrimans — the magazine reached the peak of its influence after the Washington Post Co. acquired it in 1961.
Under the reign of editor Osborn Elliott from 1961 to 1973, Newsweek plunged head-on into the big issues of the day, such as civil rights, the Vietnam War, cultural changes and corruption in Washington.
Newsweek boasted of being the most honored newsweekly, racking up more National Magazine Awards, more Overseas Press Club Awards and more Gerald Loeb Awards than any other newsweekly.
The magazine couldn’t sustain its luster in a growing digital universe. Its once-profitable business model — more than 4 million readers each week by 2004 — would be obsolete in the wake of changing technology and the public’s growing appetite for more entertainment and dumbed-down media.
By 2010, nearly broke and cut to the bone, it changed hands for $1, and eventually was flipped and merged into Diller’s Daily Beast.
At the more deep-pocketed rival, Time, editors assembled five separate covers for its “Person of the Year” edition. The initial cover picks President Obama, portrayed in an almost ominous portrait of a very worried looking world leader. Inside are four other covers of people-of-the-year picks: Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai; Apple CEO Tim Cook; Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi and brainy physicist Fabiola Gianotti. The issue also rolls out its own salute to viral happening of the year, entitled, “Odd Couple, Two Sides to 2012’s Viral Stories.”
New York knows that food can solve a lot of problems. Its cover story is a luscious plate of fries and steak. The magazine’s double-issue is a keeper for the rest of the holidays with cover articles such as “Make Out Parties” and “Logo Fetishes.” The cover wrap up on “Where to Eat in 2012” ought to be a desk companion.