FishbowlDC has learned that U.S. News & World Report is going monthly...

In June, U.S. News moved its publishing schedule from weekly to biweekly and it's no surprise that the magazine has struggled to compete with its traditional competitors -- Time and Newsweek -- even as those magazines have had their own difficulties in this depressing journalism environment.

U.S. News has tried boosting its PR efforts, stepping up its web presence and embracing its image as the-magazine-that-makes-a-lot-of-lists.

Still, there have been plenty of layoffs and, last year, the New York Post's Keith Kelly reported that "The magazine has not made any money since the dot-com bubble burst in 2001."

An official announcement has not yet been made, although staffers were recently informed of the move.

The page count in U.S. News' monthly issues will increase (as it did when the magazine went bi-weekly) and it's likely that many of the issues will prominently feature a "Best Of" feature.

With these changes, the magazine hopes to continue its website improvement and expansion, increasingly moving its content online (you may have noticed that the magazine has already boosted its Health, Business, White House, and Opinion sections). In addition, no layoffs or firings are expected. U.S. News benefits from the fact that it has already trimmed its staff, a tough process that such competitors as Newsweek and Time are currently having to undergo.

U.S. News' renewed hopes in the online world follow on last week's news that the Christian Science Monitor would move to a digital only format, a move that some media observers think is the future of the publishing industry.