NEW YORK – Weekly newsmagazine Newsweek Tuesday named Jon Meacham as editor, replacing outgoing editor Mark Whitaker, who joins corporate parent Washington Post Co. (WPO) as an executive in its online operations.
Meacham, 37, joined Newsweek in January 1995 and was named managing editor in 1998.
Whitaker, 48, will join Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive, the online division of the Washington Post Co. He will serve as vice president and editor-in-chief of new ventures, the magazine said.
He also will take the title of corporate editor at Newsweek.
Meacham's replacement as managing editor will be Daniel Klaidman, 42, who currently serves as assistant managing editor.
Meacham takes the editor's role at a time when Newsweek and rival Time are fighting to hold readers as more people turn to the Internet and around-the-clock cable networks for news.
Newsweek's circulation slid 1.8 percent for the period from January through June this year compared with the same period in 2005, according to figures provided by the Audit Bureau of Circulations.
Advertising pages have risen about 2 percent for the same period from last year, according to the Publishers Information Bureau.
Time, owned by Time Warner Inc. (TWX) last month broke away from its traditional Monday publication date, which it shares with Newsweek. It will hit newsstands on Friday as it tries to capture reader's attention on the weekend.
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