Former Newsweek editor Jon Meacham says he's "very enthusiastic about the future of Newsweek," Forbes reports.

This may come as a surprise to some, as reasons behind Meacham's August 2010 resignation as editor of Newsweek were met with scrutiny, with critics saying he was a "reluctant convert to the radical re-invention of Newsweek a year ago," and called it quits when Washington Post Co. sold the 77 year old weekly to Sidney Harmon.

But on the contrary, he thinks the recent merge between The Daily Beast and Newsweek, which will allow Newsweek to gain 5 million online readers, was the magazine's "best bet."

He said, "Tell me another way forward." Well, as The Daily Beast's (and now Newsweek's) Editor-in-chief Tina Brown has it planned, she will. According to PoynterOnline, she wants to take the newly combined publications in a different direction, claiming that, "It is hopeless to compete with the web, so the effort to keep on persisting with something called a newsmagazine is probably outdated at this point."

Although some would agree, others might consider trying to put a magazine online is just as antiquated. Sunday Times reporter Andrew Sullivan writes, "As institutional brands decline and social media grow, power shifts more and more to readers and writers and away from editors and magazines. Starting a magazine online is like putting a chain-link fence in the middle of the sea. The water simply goes where it wants to go."

While the future and Tina Brown's plan for Newsweek still stands unknown, could turning it digital really be 'the be all and end all?'

Sources: Forbes, Guardian, PoynterOnline