A little more than a year after the death of stereo magnate Sidney Harman, his estate is no longer willing to help fund Newsweek and The Daily Beast, Reuters' Peter Lauria reports. Harman's death last year spurred a lot of media watchers to wonder what might happen to the magazine whose ownership and enormous debts he'd recently acquired from The Washington Post at age 91 in 2010. At the time, the question on everyone's lips was, would his estate be as willing to remain partners with Barry Diller's IAC on the unprofitable publication after the mogul's passing? Harman's wife, former U.S. Rep. Jane Harman, assured everyone at the time that she and her family would be. Now, per Reuters Lauria, the capital contributions have stopped flowing, which makes InterActive Corp the primary feeders of the NewsBeast. From their statement to Reuters:

The Harman family remains supportive partners in the business of Newsweek Daily Beast, including service on the Board by Jane Harman and family participation in various informal roles ... However, given the death of Sidney Harman, who was actively involved in the Newsweek Daily Beast business, the Harman trust has indicated that it does not intend to make further capital contributions to the venture.

Whatever changes this might herald in the next few months, let's all assume the magazine will continue to its thing and provide the world with at least a few buzzy covers.

Want to add to this story? Let us know in comments or send an email to the author at erandall at theatlantic dot com. You can share ideas for stories on the Open Wire.