'Newsweek' merges with 'The Daily Beast': Smart idea?

The renowned weekly magazine is joining forces with Tina Brown's online publication — leaving media critics to debate the consequences

The newly merged, Tina Brown-led enterprise will be called The Newsweek Daily Beast Company.
(Image credit: Getty/ Newsweek/ Daily Beast)

The hazy future of Newsweek gained some clarity with the announcement that its owners have agreed to a merger with online publication The Daily Beast. The venerable-but-struggling newsweekly had been in on-again-off-again talks with the web start-up since magnate Sidney Harman purchased Newsweek for $1 in August. Daily Beast editor Tina Brown — who briskly transformed both the The New Yorker and Vanity Fair — will act as editor-in-chief of both publications. While some media observers question the wisdom of combining two unprofitable titles (reportedly, Newsweek lost $20 million last year and The Daily Beast is estimated to cost its owners $10 million a year), others see both sense and sizzle in the marriage:

What a beastly idea: The proposed plan — "to combine the newsrooms and the ad sales, but keep the properties independent" — could be a "disaster," says Erick Schonfeld at TechCrunch. Why would a "storied publication" like Newsweek pin its fortunes on a website which is essentially "the TMZ of news"? And does it really make sense for The Daily Beast to "bet on a dying, debt-laden print magazine now"?

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