Moving online could solve that problem, which hit Newsweek in particular, said Tom Rosenstiel, director of the Project for Excellence in Journalism at the Pew Research Center in Washington.

‘‘Newsweek’s problems came from spending an enormous amount of money to maintain a guaranteed rate base,’’ he said. ‘‘They ended up spending millions each year to try to reach a number of readers they needed to reach.’’

Newsweek is betting that there will be enough growth in the number of tablet users to make up for the fact that when its print runs end with the Dec. 31 issue, a lot of subscribers will be left without a way to get the magazine.

The magazine expects that the number of tablet users in the U.S. will exceed 70 million this year, up from 13 million just two years ago, Newsweek spokesman Andrew Kirk said.

‘‘We have reached a tipping point in the industry at which we can most efficiently and effectively reach ... readers in an all-digital format,’’ he said.

However, it’s a choice that doesn’t reflect the general health of the industry, said Mary Berner, president of The Association of Magazine Media.

She said she doesn’t want a decision by one publication to be an indication that the entire magazine industry ‘‘is going down the toilet.’’

‘‘That’s simply not true,’’ she said. ‘‘The experience of reading the print version of magazines is not going away.’’

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