Beastly Cuts: Troubled Website Dumps Two Dozen Writers & Editors

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Nostalgia isn't  always a good thing, as The Daily Beast staffers will attest, after massive layoffs last week restored the Web site to staff levels five years ago, according to a story in The Hollywood Reporter.

Two dozen editors and reporters were sacked, leaving the Beast workforce at approximately 65, THR.com reported. Reductions hit bureaus in New York and Washington, D.C. and decimated the Los Angeles staff, which now consists solely of one senior writer.

The Daily Beast, which is owned by Barry Diller's IAC/InterActiveCorp., is feeling the pain created by the parent company's ill-fated purchase of Newsweek in 2010.

IBT Media Acquires Newsweek; Publication to Remain Digital-Only

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Newsweek, an 80-year-old publication that once boasted readership of three million, has become the Christmas fruitcake of publications--a hard-to-swallow confection no one wants that gets recycled from one unlucky recipient to another.

IBT Media, an eight-year-old digital-only company that publishes the International Business Times, has acquired Newsweek from IAC/Interactive for an undisclosed sum, according to press accounts. For readers keeping score, The Washington Post. Co. sold Newsweek to the late audio magnate Sidney Harman for $1 in 2010. Harman, in turn, partnered with IAC's Barry Diller to combine Newsweek with The Daily Beast in 2012, and a digital-only version of the news magazine has very quietly been produced since January 2013 (see "TUOL" post 5/29/13).

The International Business Times globally publishes 10 editions in several languages and claims to reach 7 million readers in the U.S. and 13 million people worldwide monthly. The Daily Beast will continue to produce Newsweek during a 60-day transition period.

In what English majors will recognize both as foreshadowing and irony, IBT, a company on the upswing, during a 2011 expansion moved into New York City offices previously occupied by Newsweek.

Anyone Wanna Buy a Debt-Laden, Subscriber-Deprived, Digital-Only News Journal?

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Maybe three times will be the charm for beleaguered IAC-owned Newsweek.

Once boasting a circulation of three million, Newsweek has changed hands twice in the past three years. Acquired in 2010 from The Washington Post Co. for $1 plus assumption of its considerable debt by the late audio magnate Sidney Harman, Newsweek merged with the Daily Beast in 2012 and its present majority owner, Barry Diller's IAC, is looking to unload the forlorn digital-only publication, Variety reports.

Online traffic reportedly has reportedly shrunk by one million unique visitors over the past four months and its subscription base has plunged from 1.5 million to 470,000, according to the Variety article. The magazine renamed its digital version Newsweek Global, even though, unlike in the U.S., print editions of the newsweekly are still available around the world pursuant to royalty arrangements.

Newsweek debuted a revamped Web site this month, and Variety reported the publication has plans to unveil a paywall that will charge Web site visitors $2.99 a month to subscribe. Diller has been quoted in the press recently as saying he regrets purchasing the 80-year-old publication.

It's About Times: Ask.com Bolsters SEO Capabilities

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The New York Times has unloaded About.com, its south-headed search engine optimization ("SEO") investment, to Barry Diller's IAC/InterActive Corp. for $300 million in cash, The Wall St. Journal reported today.

The Times doled out $410 million in 2005 to acquire About.com, but took a $195 million write-down on its investment last month. IAC also owns  the Ask.com SEO, and outbid SEO Answers.com, which offered $270 million to the Times earlier this month, according to the Journal story. Ask draws 87 million unique monthly visitors, compared to About's 52 million, comScore indicates (way more than "TUOL", but who's counting?).