Newsweek, which traditionally (dentist's office joke), has for the first time ever correctly identified an overarching trend in American society and formulated a reasonable response, unaccompanied by any special "The Historical Jesus" stories!

Our expectation for Newsweek has long been that it will just continue its slow slide into total irrelevance and eventual bankruptcy, clinging to a weekly news model that the internet long ago made defunct. But maybe not! Because the top editors of Newsweek are apparently acknowledging that their model is defunct, and trying something else. Namely, they're targeting a smaller, richer audience, and ending their focus on reporting on the "News" of the "Week" in favor of thinkier opinionated pieces. In other words, they're mashing up The Economist and The Atlantic with a little dash of that trademark Newsweek bullshit for people who only read for five minutes per week:

Starting in May, articles will be reorganized under four broad, new sections - one each for short takes, columnists and commentary, long reporting pieces like the cover articles, and culture - each with less compulsion to touch on the week's biggest events. A new graphic feature on the last page, "The Bluffer's Guide," will tell readers how to sound as if they are knowledgeable on a current topic, whether they are or not.

This is really the only viable path to survival for Newsweek, so we have nothing bad to say about it. Unless it has a deleterious effect on the Historical Jesus reporting, in which case, HELL. [NYT]