I am intrigued by the merger between the historic print magazine, Newsweek, and online media upstart, The Daily Beast. The announcement piqued my interest enough to do something I rarely do anymore.  I bought a magazine.  I quickly discovered what’s wrong with print media: Newsweek has a cover price of $5.95. Plus, it is a thin 60 pages.

The issue is value. Yes, I know I can cut that $5.95 per issue down to 72 cents with a year’s subscription. Three different card inserts in the magazine informed me. However, that $5.95 is what I’ve got to pay to sample the product before I subscribe. That cover price says “don’t bother” more than “try me”.  And that’s a problem.