Talks between news-and-commentary website the Daily Beast and Newsweek have fallen through, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal that was confirmed today by a memo from Beast editor Tina Brown to staff. There had been much buzz in recent weeks about a potential merger between the growing site and the struggling magazine, which was recently unloaded by the Washington Post Company. The potential deal would have seen Brown assume editorial control of the magazine, but an agreement couldn’t be reached on how Brown, new Newsweek owner Sidney Harman, and Beast backer Barry Diller would share control. “The engagement was fun but the pre-nup got too complex,” wrote Brown in a memo to her staff today, obtained by Intel. “We wish Newsweek all the best.”
