Newsweek, owned by the Washington Post (NYSE: WPO) group, is taking the hard but necessary steps of trying to reinvent itself and keep its relevance: it is planning some layoffs, and will be moving towards a slimmer publication with fewer subscribers and more photos and opinion inside its pages, reports WSJ, citing sources. The story says that it is trying to model itself after The Economist, which has thrived in these difficult times based on its opinion and analysis. Commentary, that’s where it is at, the thinking goes.

The weekly mag did a major round of layoffs/buyouts in summer, and eliminated about 111 positions then. The new number may not be as high. Also, in a bold move, it could subtract about one million copies from its current rate base guarantee of 2.6 million, first reported by Folio earlier today. From the Folio story: “[Editor Jon] Meacham and [Time editorial director Richard] Stengel are both infatuated with the Economist,” the source said. “To get that ‘thought leader’ position, a million is the sweet spot.” The Economist’s rate base in North America is 714,000.

The writing is on the wall, otherwise: Both Time and Newsweek have cuts staff and rate bases in the last two years, and U.S. News is still wandering in the wild, trying to figure out something. Time’s ad pages are off 17 percent and Newsweek’s down an estimated 21 percent, with one fewer issue this year, according to Mediaweek. Speaking of Mediaweek, it reported in October that Newsweek execs are trying to “reimagine” the 75-year-old mag as if it were having its debut today.