On this day just five years ago American magazine company Newsweek officially announced its transition from print publication to an online-only format. During this time print-news readership had dwindled while online audiences skyrocketed, leaving many in the publishing industry no choice but to switch to online formats. Newsweek’s shift was preluded by years of internal and external contractions in an effort to improve the magazine’s finances, all to no avail. Newsweek’s revenue dropped 38% from 2007 to 2009, prompting the magazine owner, The Washington Post Company to sell the magazine to audio pioneer Sidney Harman. Finally, after almost 8 decades of publication and the steady decline of print readership, Newsweek announced that the last printing of their magazine would be on December 31, 2012. They transitioned to an all-digital format called Newsweek Global.
The cover of Newsweek’s last print issue
It would have been a far more interesting story had it delved into what their readership and profits were after the move.