Well, now we know why Time magazine is running covers with crying Reagans and devil-horned Billy Grahams; and why Newsweek is busy running--and then immediately apologizing for its own Koran in the can and global warming paranoia covers:

Time magazine remains the nation's largest newsweekly, but its lead over archrival Newsweek has narrowed considerably, according to circulation figures released Monday by the Audit Bureau of Circulations.

Time's total paid and verified weekly circulation during the six months ended June 30 stood at 3.4 million, down 17.1% from 4.1 million during the same period last year following a reduction in January in the magazine's rate base. Newsweek's circulation stood at 3.1 million, virtually unchanged from a year earlier.

Time spokeswoman Betsy Burton said the decline in circulation was in line with the magazine's expectations after it slashed its rate base--the average circulation level it guarantees advertisers--from 4 million to 3.25 million. The move was part of Time's plans to shift its ad sales efforts to audience measurements, as opposed to strict circulation measurements. The magazine has said the former will provide advertisers with more transparency and accuracy.

Also in January, Time began publishing on Fridays, rather than Mondays, and overhauled the magazine's design to place a greater emphasis on news analysis. Burton said the redesign has been well received by reader focus groups and said she didn't believe it was a factor in the magazine's circulation decline.

Update: John Leo takes a snapshot of elite postmodern journalism. And it's not a pretty picture.

Tangentially Related: No humour please, we're Canadian liberals: "That's right. She wrote two full paragraphs referencing global warming and evolution to critique a post designed to draw attention to the falling values of newspaper stocks."