NEWSWEEK MAGAZINE UP FOR SALE

The struggling current affairs magazine Newsweek has been put up for sale by its owner, the Washington Post Company, after efforts to slim down and refocus the publication failed to stem heavy losses. The Washington Post's publisher, which has owned Newsweek since 1961, announced Wednesday that it was calling in an investment bank, Allen & Company, to seek a buyer for the magazine. The proposed sale is a sign of the ongoing difficulties felt across the print media industry as advertising remains sluggish and readers migrate to the internet. The group's magazines division, which includes Newsweek, suffered an operating loss of USD 29.3m last year and USD 16.1m in 2008. The group took a series of steps last year to try to revive the publication by shifting its focus from breaking news to provocative, often left-leaning, issues and commentary. In an effort to reduce Newsweek to a more manageable size, the publisher deliberately cut its circulation, which had been as high as 3.1m per week, to 1.5m by raising cover prices and ending deep discounts on renewals. During 2009, some 44 Newsweek employees accepted voluntary redundancy packages.