The Obamunist propagandists at Newsweek are experts at spin. But no one can spin a 50% drop in their circulation as positive — not even editor Jon Meacham, though he's doing his farcical best:

Jon Meacham admits it is hard to explain, even to his own people, why chopping Newsweek's circulation in half is a good thing.

"It's hugely counterintuitive," the magazine's editor says. "The staff doesn't understand it."

That could be because not even the moonbats at Newsreek are too clueless to notice that their hard-left rag is going down the tubes.

Newsweek, owned by The Washington Post Co., is accelerating the process [of decline] because it is bleeding red ink, losing nearly $20 million in the first quarter. Newsweek, whose circulation was as high as 3.1 million in recent years, plans to cut that to 1.5 million by the beginning of 2010, in part by discouraging renewals. The magazine will begin charging the average subscriber about 90 cents an issue, nearly double the current rate.

"If we can't convince a million and a half people we're worth less than a dollar a week, the market will have spoken," Meacham says.

Consider me convinced; I think Newsbleak is worth much less than a dollar a week. The snootier version planned for its limited future may be worth less still.

On a tip from Refuter of Liberal Vermin. Hat tip: NewsBusters. Cross-posted at Moonbattery.