US: U.S. News & World scaling back, looking toward future
Posted by Liam Berkowitz on June 10, 2008 at 2:27 PM
U.S. News & World will drop its weekly format as of next year and switch to a biweekly publishing frequency.
The change is a response to dwindling circulation (-7.9%) and decreased ad pages (-32.7%). In addition, the company will create the U.S. News Media Group in order to form franchises beyond the weekly format, PaidContent.org's Rafat Ali reports.
According to U.S. News Editor Brian Kelly, the reformation is a product of the digital era of journalism: "'News' and 'week' becomes an oxymoron," Kelly said.
Indeed, Time and Newsweek - U.S. News' main competitors (both newsweeklies) - have struggled to revive diminished circulation and ad pages. On the other hand, the Economist, another newsweekly, has experienced increases in both areas. The companies' mixed fortunes make it difficult to label the newsweekly obsolete.
U.S. News' reformation reflects the direction the company believes the newsweekly, and the news industry, is taking: news online, analysis in print.
"Because we're able to provide our audience with much more current information on the web, it frees us up to do some better storytelling in print," Kelly said.
Source: PaidContent.org, AdAge.com
The change is a response to dwindling circulation (-7.9%) and decreased ad pages (-32.7%). In addition, the company will create the U.S. News Media Group in order to form franchises beyond the weekly format, PaidContent.org's Rafat Ali reports.
According to U.S. News Editor Brian Kelly, the reformation is a product of the digital era of journalism: "'News' and 'week' becomes an oxymoron," Kelly said.
Indeed, Time and Newsweek - U.S. News' main competitors (both newsweeklies) - have struggled to revive diminished circulation and ad pages. On the other hand, the Economist, another newsweekly, has experienced increases in both areas. The companies' mixed fortunes make it difficult to label the newsweekly obsolete.
U.S. News' reformation reflects the direction the company believes the newsweekly, and the news industry, is taking: news online, analysis in print.
"Because we're able to provide our audience with much more current information on the web, it frees us up to do some better storytelling in print," Kelly said.
Source: PaidContent.org, AdAge.com
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