About a month ago, a Newsweek magazine editorial by editor John Meacham announced a redesign of their print publication and online presence. One particular paragraph stood out:

Some people in our business believe print should emulate the Internet, filling pages with short, Weblike bites of information. We disagree. There is a simple idea behind the changes in the issue of NEWSWEEK you are holding: we are betting that you want to read more, not less. Other media outlets believe you just want things quick and easy. We think you will make the time to read pieces that repay the effort.

After a few weeks of reading Newsweek and checking out their website - I largely agree. While reading the print version, I definitely noticed longer articles and higher quality, namely stories on the Google product trainging program to opinion from Fareed Zakaria. The most recent issue was partly devoted to the pivotal year of 1968. One article recounting LBJ abandoning reelection and the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy transported me to another place. I’m glad I invested the time to read these articles in print.

However, Newsweek has, in parallel, improved their online presence. I found their website is clean, easy to navigate, and boasts a surprising amount of web-only supplemental material to the articles (videos, image galleries, and reader comments). Some of the videos are hosted by the writers themselves - John Meacham shows up in this one regarding 1968. Articles have a small widget to change font size and submit to popular social sites.

(My one complaint is the site’s heavy reliance on Flash definitely taxes my laptop - fans turn on due to the processor strain).

Each story from the print magazine is also available through the website - I don’t have the feeling that Newsweek would prefer me to read the magazine. This website isn’t an afterthought. I feel like I’m given options - read the print magazine cover to cover and then visit the website for supplemental information, or another week, I may reading the website first and then flip through the magazine. There is no fear that one delivery mechanism might cannibalize the other, and even if that were the case, why would it matter? Shouldn’t the goal be getting folks to read the articles - through whatever medium they desire?

The strategy of providing quality content while beefing up an online presence leverages the strengths of traditional media. Most news magazines and newspapers already have a staff of dedicated reporters and talented writers. Meanwhile, bloggers can provide entertaining opinions and conjecture, but can’t break news or report on national events. Many Web 2.0 sites might have amusing technology and forward-thinking ideas, but don’t have quality content to offer. I think Newsweek has hit a sweet spot between preparing for the future while maintaining the reasons why I’d read a print publication.

Newsweek the brand isn’t just a magazine, it can be a website, too. It looks like they’re on the path to “getting it” - thumbs up from this technophile.

 Please subscribe to the Webomatica RSS Feed!

Categories: Technology :: Tags: :: Trackback URL
Previous Post: Movie Notes: Creature
Next Post: Why Apple Hasn’t Gone Web 2.0
Related Posts: Yahoo! TV :: Paris Hilton Finds MyBlogLog :: USAToday: Anti-Social Readers? :: Web 2.0 Hits Cover of Time ::