(2009-02-11) Weekly News Mag Changes

Not long ago, three truly mass-market newsmagazines came out every week to tell Americans about world and national events, and it was a hugely lucrative business. Media empires were built on the idea. But with readers and ads melting away, and more media outlets available to get the same information faster, U.S. News & World Report took itself out of that competition in 2008, and Newsweek may be poised to step back from it this year, leaving Time as the one playing something closest to the traditional newsweekly game, and making money at it. But in fact, the entire category, Time included, has already transformed itself. The business of telling people what happened in the last week is just about gone, in favor of telling them how to think about the news - much like a rising competitor, The Economist - and the magazines resemble one another less, each having chosen a distinct direction... They still produce some deep, original reporting. But these days, they are more likely to offer a comprehensive survey of a subject to present an argument or offer a prescription... News Week, owned by The Washington Post Company, is planning a major overhaul this year. It has not made its new vision public, but executives have said it will strive to be a "thought leader," competing more with The Economist than with Time Mag... But it can be tough to stand out in the crowded field of magazines offering opinion, analysis and well-known writers... The Week, which began publishing in this country in 2003 and has circulation over 500,000, has taken a radically different approach. It has an editorial staff of just 15, and almost all of its content consists of greatly condensed versions of news and opinion pieces that have appeared in other publications - material it does not pay for. (Magazine Publishing)