The Daily Beast and Newsweek will merge, it has been confirmed

The prominent magazine editor Tina Brown has announced that her online publication The Daily Beast has reached a deal to merge with Newsweek, the struggling newsmagazine.

Ending weeks of speculation involving an ostensibly imminent deal followed by a breakdown of negotiations, Brown said in a post on The Daily Beast's website that the merger had finally been agreed upon on Thursday. Brown will become the editor-in-chief of both publications, ending the uncertainty that has continued ever since the departure of Jon Meacham from Newsweek in August.

The merger will lead to the creation of a joint venture, The Newsweek Daily Beast Company, in which The Daily Beast's owner IAC and Newsweek's 92-year-old proprietor Sidney Harman will each have a fifty per cent stake.

"It's a wonderful new opportunity for all the brilliant editors and writers at The Daily Beast who have worked so hard to create the site’s success," said Brown.

"Working at the warp-speed of a 24/7 news operation, we now add the versatility of being able to develop ideas and investigations that require a different narrative pace suited to the medium of print.

"And for Newsweek, The Daily Beast is a thriving frontline of breaking news and commentary that will raise the profile of the magazine’s bylines and quicken the pace of a great magazine's revival."

Newsweek's future has long been under a cloud, due to spiralling circulation numbers and commensurately declining revenues. Harman, an audio electronics magnate, bought the ailing magazine for a nominal sum in August. The announcement saw the immediate departure of Meacham, the magazine's editor, who has since moved to the Random House publishing group.

By contrast, The Daily Beast is a rapidly-growing website helmed by one of America's most well-known and ambitious magazine editors. But its owner, IAC's chairman Barry Diller, admitted last month that the site was a long way from breaking even.

Reports of an imminent deal continued for weeks, although talks appeared to have stalled late last month.

Media Spy discussion: Newsweek