BuzzFeed News shuts down
In an email to staff shared with NBC News, BuzzFeed Inc. CEO and co-founder Jonah Peretti said BuzzFeed News was shutting down, part of a 15% workforce reduction across a number of teams. According to one media report, layoffs will impact about 180 people, across BuzzFeed News and other divisions.
“While layoffs are occurring across nearly every division, we’ve determined that the company can no longer continue to fund BuzzFeed News as a standalone organization,” he wrote.
Peretti said he had “overinvest[ed] in BuzzFeed News “because I love their work and mission so much.”
“This made me slow to accept that the big platforms wouldn’t provide the distribution or financial support required to support premium, free journalism purpose-built for social media,” he wrote.
NBC News reports that Peretti added that he had failed to “hold the company to higher standards for profitability” to give it a buffer during downturns.
Moving forward, NBC News adds, BuzzFeed will have a lone news brand, HuffPost, which BuzzFeed acquired in 2020 and which Peretti said “is profitable, with a loyal direct front page audience.”
More here.
