• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, December 11, 2008

Newsweek is cutting staff and slimming down as part of a comprehensive overhaul of its struggling print edition, according to The Wall Street Journal. As part of the reinvention, it is cutting back its rate base by 500,000 copies or more--possibly as much as 1 million. Earlier this year, Newsweek cut its rate base 16%, to 2.6 million. The second round marks another retreat for newsweeklies, which have seen ad revenue and readership decline in the face of online competition.

Per the same sources, the print edition makeover will feature more photos and opinion. Thus, Newsweek seems to be taking a page from competitor Time, which underwent a similar metamorphosis last year, producing a thinner magazine with simpler, bolder graphics and more emphasis on commentary and opinion. Time also offered advertisers the choice of buying space using a much-reduced rate base of 3.25 million--down from 4 million--or a "total audience" figure of 19.5 million per issue, based on figures from Mediamark Research Inc.'s (MRI) new issue accumulation study.

Both newsweeklies were inspired by the success of relative newcomers the Economist and The Week. However, Time's makeover does not seem to have produced a substantial turnaround in its fortunes. For the year-to-date through late October, Time's ad pages were down 25.4% to 1,221, compared to the same period last year, according to MIN Online. Newsweek is down 22.6% to 1,102.

Competitor U.S. News and World Report has basically thrown in the towel as a newsweekly--going first from a weekly to a biweekly publication schedule in June, before adopting a monthly schedule in early November. Per MIN Online, its ad pages are down 32.4% through October, compared to the same period last year.

All three newsweeklies have seen their audiences contract over the last five years, per MRI. Newsweek's total audience shrank from 19.4 million adults in fall 2003 to 18.5 million in fall 2008--a 5% drop. Time contracted from 22.1 million to 20.8 million--a 6% drop. No fall 2008 figures were available for U.S. News, but between fall 2003 and fall 2007, its audience shrank from 10.9 million to 9.7 million--an 11% drop.

Speaking of Retreats: Time Canada Folds

Time Canada is no more, according to the Financial Post. The magazine, which had a circulation of 218,000, ends its 65 years of publication with the Dec. 29 issue. In its place, Time is offering Canadian readers the American edition. In fact, this will not be much of a change, as the Canadian edition ceased to carry any original Canadian content when Time closed its Canadian bureau two years ago. The closing of the Canadian sales office will result in the layoffs of seven employees in Toronto.

Hearst and MTV Create Digital Issue of Seventeen

Virtual MTV, an online world that is somewhat similar to Second Life, is getting a virtual magazine through a partnership with Hearst, which is producing a digital issue of Seventeen for its virtual citizens. To promote the virtual magazine, Hearst is including mentions on the Seventeen Web site and in the December-January print issue. The virtual visitors will get virtual branded gifts, in the form of a virtual Ralph Lauren bag and a virtual Seventeen poster.

Women's Health Names Promaulayko EIC

Michele Promaulayko has been named the new editor in chief of Women's Health magazine. She comes to Rodale from her recent post as executive editor of Cosmopolitan, where for the past five years she headed up Cosmopolitan Style & Beauty, a special 13th issue produced every year.