Newsweek, the terrific news perspective magazine, that I’ve read  loyally for 50 years — yes, 50 years! — is in big trouble on distribution and ad revenues. The Washington Post has it up for sale. Bloomberg is taking a look. I continue to be a big fan, as the magazine provides perspective on the week’s news and longer running issues that is hard to find elsewhere, and its editor, Jon Meacham, is first class. But here’s the troublesome facts:

“Peeking through Washington Post (NYSE: WPO) Company’s 2009 10K is instructive, if you want to know the current state of Newsweek. Or even the future. At minimum, it is going one way: down. Here are some numbers, in excruciating detail:

“—Newsweek has approximately 427 full-time employees as of Dec 31, 2009. If Bloomberg buys it, that might go down to 27.

“—Newsweek mag ad revenue was down 37 percent in 2009 due to fewer ads at the domestic and international editions, following a 14 percent decline in 2008 due to fewer ad pages at the domestic edition.

“—In 2008, Newsweek implemented a circulation rate base reduction at its domestic edition, from 3.1 million to 2.6 million, and in 2009, Newsweek implemented another rate base reduction, to 1.5 million in January 2010.”

via Newsweek by Some-Really-Crazy Numbers | paidContent.