Newsweek is not in danger of having to change from being a traditional, printed, serious-minded newsmagazine, Mike Allen of Politico reports. The top few bidders would likely preserve editor Jon Meacham’s “essentially New-Democratic tone” and would not move the title entirely online. Allen has a rundown of who he thinks the top five bidders are: Sidney Harman, the aging stereo magnate, who has been listed frequently as a top contender. Then Marc Lasry, an Obama donor who is close with the Clintons (he ran Avenue Capital, where Chelsea once worked). Avenue is a lender to Tribune Co. and an investor in American Media. Allen puts Fred Drasner in third place, though yesterday the Post and Times figured he was the leading contender. After Drasner, there’s OpenGate Capital, the Los Angeles private-equity firm that owns TV Guide and has been known to be interested, and then “an overseas investor — perhaps Carlos Slim.” It’s always good to keep “an overseas investor” in the top list, just in case. That is, as long as it’s not from somewhere icky like China.
The Playbook [Politico]
