• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, October 7, 2010

Will Newsweek, Daily Beast Merge?

Are Newsweek and the Daily Beast Web site about to make the beast with two backs? Rumors are circulating that a merger may be in the offing, just a week after stereo pioneer Sidney Harman took control of the struggling newsweekly. The rumors, reported on a number of blogs and trade publications, also follow close on the heels of The Daily Beast's hiring of media critic Howard Kurtz away from The Washington Post, whose parent company previously owned Newsweek.

The Daily Beast's founder and editor Tina Brown acknowledged the rumors, but failed to deny the possibility of a merger in a post on the site, which has received funding from entertainment mogul Barry Diller. Brown noted that the site has moved rapidly from its original mission of news aggregation to include a variety of original reporting. It currently attracts about 5 million unique visitors per month. That makes it smaller than the HuffingtonPost.com, which attracted 24.3 million unique visitors back in June.

Also this week, a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission revealed that Newsweek, as widely speculated, was purchased by Harman for $1, along with the assumption of financial liabilities to the tune of $47 million. This deal bears a close resemblance to OpenGate's acquisition of TV Guide in from Macrovision for $1 -- plus millions of dollars in liabilities -- in October 2008.

  Recent months have seen a number of high-profile departures from Newsweek, including editor Jon Meacham and Fareed Zakaria, the magazine's prized international editor, who moved to rival Time. The magazine's ad pages appeared to stabilize in the second quarter, with a modest 2.9% increase compared to last year, to 233 ad pages.

ASME Recognizes Best Cover

The American Society of Magazine Editors have revealed the choice of online voters for best cover of the year: the prize goes to the December 2009 issue of Harper's Bazaar, featuring two of the leading actors in the "Twilight"  movies, which, for those living under a rock, is a series of romantic-fantasy-horror flicks about teenage vampires and werewolves. In suitably dramatic fashion, the cover shows female lead Kristen Stewart in a gothic Victorian garden, with Robert Pattinson chivalrously taking her hand on bended knee. The artful cover's victory in the ASME awards, bestowed by Amazon.com customers voting online, demonstrates the power of teenage girls when voting as a bloc.

New Editor at OK!

Everything is still OK at OK!, according to the magazine's publishers, despite the frequent shuffles in the top editorial position. The newest contender to hold the top spot is Richard Spencer, formerly editor in chief of In Touch Weekly, who replaced Mark Pasetsky in yet another abrupt switch-up this week. Pasetsky, who previously served as editor of Life & Style, was appointed editor of OK! last year; he will continue to serve as managing editor, according to the publishers.

Wolff Named Editorial Director of Adweek Media

Vanity Fair columnist and media pundit Michael Wolff has been named the editorial director for Adweek Media, which publishes Adweek, Mediaweek and Brandweek, all purchased from Nielsen by e5 Media earlier this year. Richard Beckman, the former head of Conde Nast's media group and now CEO of e5 Media, acknowledged Wolff's reputation for controversy in an interview with The New York Times, saying: "He's controversial. Which is good. If you want to make an omelet you have to break some eggs."