• Mediaweek, Wednesday, January 5, 2011 11:19 PM

Talk is spreading that future publishing partner The Daily Beast plans to further gut the Newsweek staff by offering buyouts. Newsweek owner Sidney Harman agreed late last year to merge with the IAC-backed news and commentary site in a joint venture. The deal hasn't closed yet, and it's not clear when it will.

But Beasteditor Tina Brown, who has been named editor of the merged company, is already making her mark on the news weekly, ordering up stories and quietly making new hires, leading some there to feel like the union is more a takeover than a merger. The combined venture seems to have reason to act soon. Harman agreed to keep most of the magazine's 300-plus employees after the sale by The Washington Post Co.

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