The breathless anticipation to find out who’s going to run that magazine you used to read is over! NY Observer:
Newsweek and The Daily Beast will announce tomorrow morning that the two publications will merge, a source close to the deal tells The Observer.
It will be a 50-50 merger of the two companies. The editorial staffs will combine under the editorship of Tina Brown, who will again run a high-profile glossy.
Newsweek owner Sidney Harman, 92, and IAC chairman Barry Diller had for weeks disagreed over an operating structure for the hybrid publication. The deal reached today establishes a daily role for Mr. Harman and strong editorial independence for Ms. Brown.
Internet wags immediately began trying to name the new publication: Newsbeast? The Daily Week? I’ll continue to use the name I’ve been calling it for years: It’s Either This or Stare at the Carpet Here in the Waiting Room.
Tina Brown writes:
It’s a wonderful new opportunity for all the brilliant editors and writers at The Daily Beast who have worked so hard to create the site’s success. Working at the warp-speed of a 24/7 news operation, we now add the versatility of being able to develop ideas and investigations that require a different narrative pace suited to the medium of print. And for Newsweek, The Daily Beast is a thriving frontline of breaking news and commentary that will raise the profile of the magazine’s bylines and quicken the pace of a great magazine’s revival. I’m impressed with how Newsweek’s outstanding staff has continued to put out a lively, well-informed magazine after the departure of their tireless editor, Jon Meacham.
She misspelled “tiresome.” But it’s nice of her to praise Meacham, right after pointing out that her job is to revive the corpse he’s left behind.
Also, did she just say “warp speed”?