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MEMO PAD
HEADING OUT: Newsweek's revolving doors keep on spinning. Dirk Barnett, creative director, is leaving to join the greener pastures of The New Republic. Barnett is a big loss following what have been already brutal back-to-back weeks of bad press for the newsweekly. As creative director, he spearheaded a major redesign of the magazine over a year ago.
Barnett joined Newsweek after five days at Cond(c) Nast's Lucky on the strength of Tina Brown's reputation and ambition.
"Tina's pitch was simple: make Newsweek a strong, vibrant, living brand again," Barnett told the Society of Publication Designers last March. "Plus, the opportunity to work alongside Tina was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."
Vibrant is not the word most observers would use to describe Newsweek in recent months. The latest troubles began in late July when the Harman family confirmed it stopped investing in the joint Newsweek-Daily Beast...