Newsweek Scraps Print Edition To Focus Online

Newsweek has announced it will scrap its print edition and shift to an all-digital format, starting next year.

The weekly magazine will produce its last US print edition on December 31 after 80 years on the news-stands.

The online publication will be called Newsweek Global and will be a single, worldwide edition that requires a paid subscription.

It will be available for tablets and online reading, with certain content available on The Daily Beast website.

The announcement was made by Tina Brown, editor-in-chief and founder of The Newsweek Daily Beast Co.

"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," she said in the statement.

"But as we head for the 80th anniversary of Newsweek next year, we must sustain the journalism that gives the magazine its purpose - and embrace the all-digital future."

Newsweek's decision does not come as a complete surprise, with management announcing in July that the publication was examining its future as a weekly print magazine.

Staff cuts are expected, but the company gave no specific figures.

Newsweek was the second biggest news magazine in the US and owned for decades by the Washington Post.

It was sold in August 2010 amid falling circulation, and later merged with The Daily Beast.