Reinventing Newsweek

Please increase the font size to a legible size. Otherwise it takes the pleasure out of the reading process. Some pages the font size is fine, but others, for the sake of stuffing in all of the information, the font size is sacrificed. There should be a reasonable font size that you never go below. For example, on the October 12 issue, John Meacham has a very small font size whereas Fareed Zakaria's article on page 32 seems fine. Please don't vary the font size so much. Your typical readers are likely to be above the age of 35, so why alienate them.

I don't subscribe to The New York Times and hardly have a spare moment to read the blogs. I counted on Newsweek to give me in-depth coverage of news I may or may not have heard snippets of during the week. No more. The new format has effectively told me to get lost. TIME, please add one subscription.

I'll be leaving the foal now...bye, and good luck!

Re-inventing yourself from the antithesis of MAD magazine was a great idea! Now you should design a water resistant issue for all the gay bathhouses in which you are sure to appear.

My biggest issue with the redesign is that I can't immediately tell if a page is a story or an advertisement. Something is going on with either the fonts or the margins that isn't working for me. I've recently subscribed to Time, in addition to Newsweek. I always preferred Newsweek because Time just wasn't the old friend I have known since college (30 years ago). Now Newsweek isn't that old friend either. I'll stick with Newsweek until my subscription expires, but if things don't improve, I will not renew. I had been getting tired of all the science and religion cover stories anyway; they seem to have increased in frequency under the current management.

I waited until the second issue of your redesign to comment, because I realize that makeovers are generally gradual processes, I like change and generally I think the overall LOOK of the new design is alright.
Unfortuately, I think the designers have failed on the basis of principles, because form has trumped function. I have been a Newsweek reader for about 40 years, but the new design makes it frankly DIFFICULT to read! For example, the timeline on the history of Iran uses a font size that is too small. In the interview with Khatami, the headings/questions are in all caps and a low-contrast font--both features which impair legibility. Even the Perspectives page, though the font size is big (actually too big, in this case) the color is too light, not enough contrast. I love having print that I can read on the sofa, in the bathtub, wherever, without having to bring a high intensity lamp along. Finally, the Back Story - is an example of graphics gone amuck. It is NOT fun to read, but simply annoying!
If you truly do intend to focus on your loyal, more affluent base, of which I am . . . . I suggest that the designers consider the purpose of design and the principle that "Form FOLLOWS Function". The PURPOSE of Newsweek is to READ it! I hope I'll still be able to!

The only way you could possibly redeem yourselves is if each week you run a photo of someone new kicking George Will in the nuts.

New Coke. It stinks I feel like a friend has died. Somebody needs to be fired over this horrific blunder.

I couldn't believe my eyes when I first set sight on the "new" Newsweek. I thought it was a horrible prank. Unfortunately, now that I've received my second copy of the redesigned magazine, I assume the changes were purposeful. I hate it! This has to be the work of some very misguided people. I'll miss the old Newsweek and say goodbye to the new Newsweek by cancelling my subscription. Adieu old friend.

So deeply saddened by the new format. It leaves me totally cold and I'm under 40, and make the right amount of income so I probably fall into the target demographics. The look of the articles blends so beautifully with the ads, everything now feels like and advertorial. I feel I have to work for my content! It's like hunting and pecking for meat on a carcass. Who has time for this kind of strain? If I can get a dime back, or save a tree...this is one canceled subscription. So sad.

The new Newsweek appears very sharp. It certainly has a good, clean look and I like the little box at the end of some articles stating what???s next.

A couple of problems I have, most important first: As an ???almost-senior??? citizen with good eyesight, I found the ???Conventional Wisdom THINK AGAIN??? sidebar a little hard to read: The orange in two shades is attractive, but the white print in the lighter orange has too little contrast. The white print in the darker orange is OK, but black or a dark any-other-color would be better still.

In the same vein, the ???Perspectives??? page is certainly different but even more difficult to read is that light, light gray print on the white background. Also the pale green quote could just as well be the darker green???you don???t really need to show the two shades???dark, then light, then dark, etc.

My other issue (no pun intended) is the amount of white space. It looks great, nice and clean, but it also looks kinda wasteful???and I compared the print size to last week???s issue???looks even smaller to me and I was beginning to have a little trouble with the old stuff and was going to write to you about that. Having such a large opening paragraph could easily be in a smaller font and the font of the article a couple of points larger. It wouldn???t hurt the new look to fill up some that white space (especially the article, ???The First 1,000 Days,??? pages 46 and 47 and the article on Autism, pages 74 and 75). Also the captions near the pictures set below such a large white space or the generous inner margin around a paragraph of interest (like page 64) looks attractive but could be a tighter fit if the article font is bigger.

Remember, we???re an aging population???I don???t think your young fans would mind or even notice a couple of points larger font, but we baby-boomers, entering our mid-60s and certainly older folks would appreciate an easier read.

FYI, I love seeing and listening to Jon Meacham and Newsweek columnists on MSNBC and the Sunday morning political shows.

What a disaster! I???ve lost a friend of over 30 years. I don???t know who their target audience is but it???s not me. I???m canceling my subscription that runs through 2011.

Re: the new look from a long-time subscriber. Newsweek has become an in-flight magazine: lots of fluff and no news. Specifically: 1) Most page layouts look like advertisements. 2) Too much white space, e.g., President Obama stories (pp. 36-47). 3) My first take on "Scope" was that it was an advertising insert. Then I thought it was promoting a new pop culture magazine. 4) White type on Conventional Wisdom difficult to read against light brown background. Gray text in Perspectives equally squint inducing. Bottom line -- Newsweek has the look and feel of an infomercial. Newsweek is, and I hope will continue to be, the newsweekly of record. But you no longer look like a serious journalistic enterprise.

I love Newsweek. I've been a subscriber for many years. I'm over 40 and I have stopped magazines that changed their font to one I have a hard time reading. Who is your audience for the hard copy magazine? If it is "more affluent readers" perhaps you should rethink the size of the font. Who made the decision to make it so small? Someone under 35?

I loved what this had to say, with the exception of one thing. Deveny says that NEWSWEEK "will focus on a smaller, more devoted, slightly more affluent audience." She goes on to say that good journalism is expensive, which I, being a journalist myself, completely understand. With more and more media brands focusing on "more affluent" audiences, though, our society is being put into a grand danger.
If only affluent Americans have the ability to reach the news, especially first-hand, well-researched, news, then what will happen to our country? In this 'land of opportunity,' it is vital that all citizens have information available to them that they may contribute to society in a more beneficial fashion.
I just hope that someone is thinking of the little man-- the blue collar worker who follows politics religiously and knowledgably votes every election; or the college student who is too busy to follow the morning news and papers, but utilizes magazines such as NEWSWEEK to stay informed on current problems.

I hope magazines like Newsweek and Time continue to exist. Spending too much time on the computer can cause weight gain and is hard on the eyes.

I largely agree with Stark. When the Kindle finds itself a successor which is flexible, rollup, with an OLED screen to which media can be wirelessly streamed for a small fee the print versions of the newspaper and magazine will become obsolete. This will happen regardless of any innovations made to your magazine now. Newsweek and other media outlets should focus almost solely on updating electronic delivery methods. As far as newsweek's reporting goes.. well it would be a shame to lose it. Plan for the future so that you don't wind up like GM.