Newsweek’s editor is aiming to make the magazine brand “reflective of the modern era and of modern storytelling” via a major redesign across print and online.
Jennifer H Cunningham joined Newsweek as editor in March 2024, having led the newsroom at Business Insider for almost four years.
She told Press Gazette this week she wanted the redesign to help Newsweek be “premium… elegant and sophisticated” and “something that was reflective of our ambition as journalists, that we want to have really strong, original reporting”.
The “reimagining” of Newsweek includes a new logo, typography and creative direction, as well as QR codes in the magazine connecting it more closely to the digital offering.
The website has a coloured background (giving it a similar feel to the Financial Times, although this was not a direct influence) and features less of the brand’s iconic red colour, although Cunningham said it “isn’t going anywhere” and can be turned on and off when they want.
The print relaunch took place in October with a cover interview with actor Sir Anthony Hopkins. The second issue, revealed this week, features country music star Kenny Chesney.
Both were branded as Newsmakers interviews, which Cunningham described as an “initiative that unites immersive, long-form storytelling with cinematic film” putting out the interviews across the print magazine covers, website and Youtube.
Cunningham described this as a major part of Newsweek “redoubling our commitment to original premium content that matters”. She added that it also enables advertisers to work across premium formats via one package.
Newsweek in print remains ‘foundational’ and profitable
Newsweek’s weekly print magazine remains profitable and is a “foundational product” for the brand, Cunningham said.
“We’re in 50 countries and much of the audience that is accessing us is doing so through print, particularly abroad,” she said.
“It’s definitely something that we remain really proud of – and it’s also profitable. I think there are some print entities that are no longer profitable and are now publishing digital only, but that’s not the case with Newsweek, and we’re really proud of that.
“And we also think that this reinvestment in our print product is going to yield even more readers who want a premium experience through print, and trust Newsweek to deliver that to them.”
A Newsweek spokesperson said the magazine’s global print circulation is 250,000.
Online, Newsweek had 94.5 million visits globally in September, down 13% year on year but up 80% compared to two years earlier.
The website spent several months last year as the biggest-growing English-language news website in the world, with a strategy built around maximising referrals from Google Search, Discover and News, although traffic has since dipped.
Many publishers reliant on Google are seeing falling clickthroughs due to AI summaries appearing at the top of search results, although news appears to be impacted less than non-news or evergreen content.
Cunningham said Newsweek continues to “live and breathe” US politics while it is also “very passionate about international relations” and has interviewed several world leaders this year including the prime ministers of Denmark, Estonia and Iraq.
“I think, at a time where newsrooms are cutting back on investing in in original reporting, that is one of the strengths of Newsweek, and that’s something that we want to continue to invest in, and it’s also something that is sort of AI proof, to have a really strong long form narrative coupled with a cinematic style video.
“That’s something that readers will, and viewers will, want to engage with that isn’t already on the internet.”
Cunningham added that the brand has “worked hard” to maintain an All Sides media bias rating of being in the political centre (it was classed as leftist until 2021).
“We really want to be a platform and a place where everyone, regardless of their ideological leaning, can come and get a story that is objective, that states the facts plainly and also explains what this news means to them, whether it’s their bottom line, their pocketbook…
“We take it very seriously that readers are looking to us for the facts, just the facts, unvarnished and that’s very important, really, a crucial tenant of the journalism that we do.”
Newsweek editor: Investing in newsroom is ‘the way that you excel’
Newsweek has an editorial team of around 100 people, half of whom are in the US and half in London’s Canary Wharf.
Cunningham said that unlike some other news organisations that have been cutting jobs over the past year, Newsweek has continued “to invest in our newsroom”. The size of the politics team tripled in 2024.
“That’s the way that you excel, is to build a talent dense newsroom, and to have journalists that are really committed to original reporting and knocking on doors and… getting the story from the source.”
When she joined Newsweek, Cunningham told Press Gazette she felt the brand could claim back its “prominence on kitchen tables across America” as long as they “keep fairness in mind and keep our audience in mind”.
She said this week: “I think the redesign is just the latest tool in our toolbox to regain the prominence that we enjoyed previously, but I think Newsmakers is another tool in the toolbox, and I think our continued investment in our journalism really speaks for itself.”
Newsweek has experimented with using AI for “human-led, AI-assisted journalism”, Cunningham said, citing uses such as video production, social media management, data collection and aggregation, and a bot that sifts through podcasts and flags words and phrases the newsroom is interested in.
This summer Newsweek was recruiting an AI visual content producer to create videos, illustrations, data visualisations and explainers using generative tools.
Cunningham pointed to the AI policy on Newsweek’s website, which states: “Journalists will revise, check verify and approve all content before publication, whether AI-generated or not… Newsweek is not currently generating any articles solely with the use of AI tools, but if it were to do so then this would be disclosed.”
And Cunningham explained how she sets parameters for AI use among her journalists: “I tell the reporters, if the AI makes a mistake, that’s on you to rectify. It’s not the AI’s fault. It’s our fault.”
Newsweek has been co-owned by chief executive Dev Pragad and former chief executive Johnathan Davis since 2018. They have been locked in lengthy litigation with former owner IBT Media.
Newsweek said last month the latest suit from IBT Media was “baseless, frivolous and otherwise without any merit whatsoever”.
In August the New York Supreme Court found IBT should pay Newsweek damages, as the current owners have had to pay taxes for the 2012 to 2018 period when the magazine was owned by IBT. A hearing to determine the amount of damages owed – Newsweek is seeking $9.6m – is set for January.
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