Pakistan gets dedicated Newsweek edition

05 March 2010

A Pakistani version of Newsweek is to hit the shelves from September this year.

Newsweek Pakistan will cover international and local news, and will be produced under licence with local media company AG productions. It marks the publication’s eighth local edition and begins with a print run of 30,000 copies, four times more than its current circulation in the country. 

AG Publications’ managing director Fasih Ahmed will draw on his experience working with the Wall Street Journal to act as chief executive for the venture.

Newsweek International’s managing director and publisher Rhona Murphy said: “This agreement builds on Newsweek’s strategy to develop publishing alliances in important markets and follows the launch of editions in Russia, Poland and most recently Turkey.

“Our Newsweek Asia regional edition has been available in Pakistan for a long time, but this agreement gives us the opportunity to build on our followers by providing Pakistan-specific subject matter,” said Murphy.

Pakistan’s other current English-language titles The Herald, Newsline, The Friday Times, The Dawn and The News have combined sales totalling 100,000 in a country with a total population of around 166 million.

Josh Colley, London