Newsweek Extends Buyout Offer As It Copes With Fall in Revenue

Newsweek magazine, which is owned by The Washington Post Co., told employees yesterday that the magazine is extending early-retirement, or "buyout," packages offered earlier this year and will lay off 10 employees.

Newsweek, like all newsweekly magazines, has seen its readership and ad revenue drop in recent years as the news cycle continues to speed up. As such, the magazines have worked to reinvent themselves to include more commentary and less breaking news.

Newsweek's ad revenue dropped 13 percent through the first nine months of this year compared with the same period last year, The Post Co. reported in October.

The magazine dropped its "rate base," meaning the number of copies in circulation guaranteed to advertisers, from 3.1 million per week to 2.6 million this year, and will maintain that level for at least the next six months, the magazine said.

Also, unlike U.S. News & World Report, which said last month it will move from weekly to monthly publication, Newsweek plans on remaining a weekly.

The buyout offers were accepted by 117 Newsweek employees earlier this year; yesterday's buyout offer was extended to "substantially fewer" people, the magazine said. To qualify, Newsweek employees need one year of service at the magazine.

"We are living in tough times, but it is important to remember that the appetite for news is great, and more specifically, the appetite for Newsweek is strong," Post Co. Senior Vice President Ann L. McDaniel said to staffers yesterday. "Our goal is not simply to survive. It is to win, to grow and to prosper. We have a vision for the future and a plan to take our company forward."

At a Wall Street conference earlier this week, Post Co. Chairman Donald E. Graham said that both Newsweek and The Post will lose money this year.

In other Post Co. news yesterday, Facebook announced that Graham has joined its board of directors.