While the entire world that cares about this stuff had its attention trained on a Daily Telegraph report that The Guardian was in "serious" discussions about ending its print edition (a report the Guardian denies), Newsweek's editor-in-chief Tina Brown was busy penning an announcement that her publication was past the point of discussion and on to the implementation stage.

"We are announcing this morning an important development at Newsweek and The Daily Beast," Brown writes under the headline A Turn of the Page for Newsweek. "Newsweek will transition to an all-digital format in early 2013. As part of this transition, the last print edition in the United States will be our Dec. 31 issue."

After 80 years on dead wood, Newsweek will become Newsweek Global: "A single worldwide edition targeted for a highly mobile, opinion-leading audience who want to learn about world events in a sophisticated context."

Naturally, cutting costs — or "challenging economics of print publishing," as Brown calls it — comes with a price.

"Regrettably we anticipate staff reductions and the streamlining of our editorial and business operations both here in the U.S. and internationally," Brown says. No exact figures were provided.

Newsweek Global will have a subscription model that will allow readers to access content across multiple devices. Select Newsweek content will also be made available for free on The Daily Beast.