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09 Aug 2011 20:16

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Politics: Surprise: People find Newsweek’s Bachmann photo unflattering

  • No kidding: Newsweek’s cover on Rep. Michele Bachmann, the 2012 presidential candidate, has caused quite a stir on the interwebs over the past couple of days. It’s even inspired a couple of memes, though it’s mostly inspired anger over the magazine’s approach. Example: Terry O’Brien, the president of the National Organization for Women, said that “‘Queen of Rage’ is something you apply to wrestlers or somebody who is crazy.” Was this photo the best choice for the magazine’s cover? Take a look at the magazine’s own outtakes and judge for yourself. source
Posted by samimain • 0 Comments • Permalink

06 Mar 2011 23:11

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Politics: Tina Brown, on relaunching Newsweek with The Daily Beast

  • Ironically, it was living in The Daily Beast’s fast and furious news cycle for the past two years that revealed to me what a newsmagazine can bring to the table when it’s no longer chasing yesterday’s story. It’s about filling the gaps left when a story has seemingly passed, or resetting the agenda, or coming up with an insight or synthesis that connects the crackling, confusing digital dots.
  • Tina Brown • Explaining in her redesign-launching letter what Newsweek’s relaunch means. She’s absolutely right, really – her time with The Daily Beast makes her pretty much the perfect person to play the role of editor of a newsmagazine in 2011. She can take the lessons from the Beast and build a shared vision between two entities which are designed to handle different parts of the media pie. We wish her the best. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

13 Nov 2010 14:37

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Biz: Newsweek/Daily Beast merger: “like a bad Nora Ephron movie” if it fails

  • Married people disagree all the time. One of them walks out of the room and says, ‘Never talk to me again.’ Then they sleep it off and one sends the other flowers. We realized that there was much more that connected us than separated us.
  • Newsweek owner Sidney Harman  • Explaining the dynamic between the ownership of his Newsweek and that of the Barry Diller-owned Daily Beast. One anonymous source described the potential failure of the collaboration being “like a bad Nora Ephron movie.” Will the collaboration turn out like “Sleepless in Seattle,” “You’ve Got Mail,” or “Bewitched”? All we know is that we’ll have what they’re having.  source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

12 Nov 2010 20:55

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Biz: Newsweek’s Daily Beast merger: Two money-losers, one with momentum

  • $10M the amount The Daily Beast is on track to lose this year; it’s relatively new, so that’s not bad
  • $20M the amount Newsweek is on track to lose; it’s been bleeding for a long freaking time
  • $1 the amount Sidney Harman spent to buy Newsweek; he also took on all its debt source
  • » Is this a deal just to get Tina Brown? It wouldn’t be unprecedented. See, Brown, a longtime magazine editor for Vanity Fair and The New Yorker, has the chops to help make Newsweek a success again, and Barry Diller’s Daily Beast, while growing at a nice clip (5 million online readers a month, which means that nowadays, it’s probably read about as widely as Newsweek, which sells 1.6 million print copies – significantly down from just a year ago), probably needs a print component to anchor its Web efforts and ensure profitability. And plus, NBC Universal bought Barry Diller’s USA Network back in 2001 basically to get Diller.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

12 Nov 2010 10:37

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Biz: Newsweek, The Daily Beast become singular corporate beast

  • Nothing more to add to this, really. Good luck guys. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

25 Oct 2010 10:32

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Tech: Do people simply tire of social sites like Digg, just like TV shows?

  • Starting a company like Digg is less like building a traditional tech company (think Apple or HP) and more like launching a TV show. And perhaps, like TV shows, these companies are ephemeral in nature. People flock in for a while, then get bored and move on.
  • Newsweek scribe Daniel Lyons • Offering an interesting perspective on the decline of Digg, which he suggests may have been as much about the change of its audience as a failure of Digg to keep up. The TV show metaphor is actually a very good one. While not every company will fall prey to changing seasons, Web 2.0 companies are particularly apt to them due to their socially-oriented business models. Lyons suggestion at the end is most telling: “The big lesson of Digg may be simply this: if someone offers you a ridiculous amount of money for a company that wasn’t that hard to build, don’t think twice. Take the money and run.” source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

03 Oct 2010 20:24

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Politics: Newsweek thinks that “angry voters” are pretty overhyped

  • 23% of all voters describe themselves as “angry”
  • 42% support the pretty darn angry Tea Party
  • 52% of angry voters identify as Republicans
  • 14% are Democrats; 29 percent are indies source
  • » Other things to note: Is this just a hype issue? That’s Newsweek’s conclusion. They say that the chances of angry voters voting in the 2010 elections is roughly the same as normal voters, and there’s a lot more of those. And they note that Obama’s approval rating, currently at 48 percent. is way above where both George W. Bush and Bill Clinton were during their 2006 and 1994 midterms, respectively.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

03 Aug 2010 00:00

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Biz: Newsweek’s sale was for a bargain-basement price (and lots of debt)

  • $1 the amount Sidney Harman will pay the Post for Newsweek
  • $70M the amount of debt Harman will take on in exchange for the price
  • 250 the number of the mag’s 325 employees Harman will keep source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

02 Aug 2010 23:59

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Biz: More on Newsweek buyer: His wife is a congresswoman

Sidney Harman is 91? He doesn’t look a day over 80. His wife, Jane, by the way, represents the 36th district of California. She’s the second-richest House member. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

02 Aug 2010 23:47

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Biz: Newsweek bought by a guy who knows something about white noise

  • A stereo tycoon will now own Newsweek. The Washington Post Company, in an effort to get rid of deadwood, tried selling their long-standing Time adversary, Newsweek, and tonight, word’s leaked out that they succeeded. And what better choice for a new boss than 91-year-old Sidney Harman, a stereo company owner who we’re ensured doesn’t have a tin ear. His plans for the product include amplification of online content, noise-cancellation of the editorial pages, and finding the right pitch for a publication that has struggled of late to find its way. Newsweek will be singing a new tune after tonight! source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
 
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