With sale rumors still swirling, Newsweek unveiled a very minimalist redesign of its Web site this week.
According to Newsweek digital editor Mark Miller said the goal of the redesign was “simplicity and clarity.”
“The new Newsweek.com is built for people who seek context and clarity in an information landscape cluttered with headlines and knee-jerk reactions,” Miller wrote in an editor’s note. “When you come to our site, we won’t greet you with a dizzying array of a million places to click. We’ll focus on what matters most, right now. We’ll give you new information, a well-informed opinion, or an insightful piece of analysis.”
He continued:
There are four main components to our new home page: the site lead, the Newsweek Now content stream, a new feature called The Spectrum, and a few self-explanatory navigational tools. The first thing you’ll see when you come to the new Newsweek.com is the one big story leading the site. We’ll change it throughout the day, particularly as news evolves, but we want readers to know right away that this is our very best, most interesting offering right now. Below the lead story is the Newsweek Now feature, in which content streams downward, almost like a blog, giving you a quick glance at our latest offerings. It will constantly update throughout the day as our reporters, writers, contributors, and columnists throughout the world file new material. Nearby is The Spectrum, where we give readers a quick but deep dive into what’s being said around the Web about the major story of the day (or at least the story that’s the big water-cooler topic of the moment). Our editors scour the Web and deliver the five smartest takes from commentators coming from all angles.
The redesign comes less than a month after the Washington Post Co.’s announcement that Newsweek – which continues to hemorrhage money – is up for sale.
A quick update on that: TV Guide’s owners are said to be kicking the tires on Newsweek, according to the New York Post.
If a buyer is not found, the company could opt to shut the print version down, making the redesign of its site fairly critical.
More to read:
Newsweek Sale Update: 70 Interested, Saban ‘Serious’
Who Might Buy Newsweek — and the Odds They Will
Newsweek Goes Up for Sale
