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19 October 2012
Last updated at
09:56
In pictures: Newsweek front covers
Newsweek, the 80-year-old US current affairs magazine, is to become an online-only publication. The first edition from 17 February 1933 showcased seven photos on the cover - a news event for each day of the week.
The modern era at Newsweek began in 1961, when it was purchased by the Washington Post. Edward Kosner, who worked at Newsweek from 1963 to 1979, ending as executive editor, told AP: "Everybody cared about what was on the cover Monday morning. People took the magazines very, very seriously. They were important. They were influential."
Newsweek rose to become the second largest US news weekly magazine, behind Time. Yet now the number of Newsweek subscribers has slumped from more than three million at its peak to 1.5 million.
The executive editor of Newsweek from 1986 to 1991, Stephen Smith, notes that the golden age of the weekly news magazines was nothing like today's frenetic media sprint. At the start of each week, reporters would come into work for a couple of days to think about story ideas and how to pitch them.
Richard M Smith joined Newsweek for a two-week writing tryout in 1970 and stayed until 2007, rising to executive editor before retiring as president and chief executive officer. He recalled with pride Newsweek's coverage of civil rights in the 1960s, the end of the Vietnam War and economic issues in the 1970s, the Aids epidemic in the 1980s.
In 2001 the 9/11 attacks on New York led to a special report and another powerful front cover.
Newsweek merged with the internet news group the Daily Beast two years ago.
The Daily Beast's founder, Tina Brown, said its site now had more than 15 million unique visitors a month, a 70% increase on last year.
She said in a statement: "Exiting print is an extremely difficult moment for all of us who love the romance of print and the unique weekly camaraderie of those hectic hours before the close on Friday night."
The last print edition will be on 31 December, reflecting the trend for newspapers and magazines to move online as traditional advertising declines.
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