Newsweek as a Nonprofit?

An institutional American newsmagazine, that has been doing poorly lately, could consider nonprofit status, as speculated at Poytner Online.

An excerpt.

“So Newsweek has been sold to a fabulously wealthy angel, Sidney Harman. That is one of the scenarios I have considered likely since the magazine went on the block in early May.

“Washington Post CEO Don Graham made good on his pledge to put Newsweek in the hands of an owner who would honor its editorial traditions rather than hold out for more money from a buyer who would grab the brand and totally remake the magazine.

“Now what? I can't help but wonder whether, over the next couple of years, Harman will covert Newsweek to a nonprofit. It would fit both the struggling magazine's finances and Harman's intentions and circumstances.

“Before anyone else asked the rude question, the vigorous 91-year-old Harman told Newsweek's staff at a meeting Monday that creating a succession plan will be high on his list of priorities. By his and Graham's estimates, the magazine is years away, at best, from breaking even.

“So if making a profit is not really the point, why not set up a nonprofit structure to operate the magazine -- as, for instance, Rick MacArthur has done at Harper's for 27 years?

“The case for becoming a nonprofit

“I sought an expert opinion on my speculation from James (Jay) Hamilton, a Duke University expert on media economics who has been closely studying the nonprofit option for several years now. It's not a totally far-out proposition, he said in a phone interview, but such a move would require changes in the magazine and entail risks of its own.

“Hamilton, who is a consultant to the Federal Communication Commission on its current study of the future of media, said that in order for the Internal Revenue Service to grant Newsweek nonprofit status, the magazine would have to establish that it is being operated for an educational purpose. That would presumably be defined as a mission to provide information and foster dialogue on national and international affairs.”