BuzzFeed News to shut down amid financial distress
BuzzFeed Inc announced the closure of its news division as it moves to centralise its news content in HuffPost due to financial difficulties.
The move will result in a 15 per cent reduction in the organisation’s staff. Additionally, the disclosure caused the company’s shares in digital media to drop 10 per cent on Thursday.
180 employees across teams including business, content, technology, and administration will be affected by the second round of layoffs, CEO Jonah Peretti announced in an email to colleagues. The organisation had earlier in December laid off 12 per cent of its workforce.
According to Mr Peretti, the pandemic and the ensuing economic crisis were to blame for the drop in digital advertising and BuzzFeed’s revenue. “We’ve faced more challenges than I can count in the past few years,” he added.
The organisation announced that the affected employees will be considered for openings at BuzzFeed.com and HuffPost, which it purchased in 2020.
“Moving forward, we will have a single news brand in HuffPost, which is profitable, with a loyal direct front page audience,” Peretti said in the note to employees.
The business announced that Chief Operating Officer Christian Baesler and Chief Revenue Officer Edgar Hernandez had made the decision to leave as part of the restructure. All revenue-related duties will be assumed by President Marcela Martin immediately.
Mr Peretti and John Johnson launched BuzzFeed in 2006; the company publishes news, videos, and online quizzes. In 2021, it underwent a blank-check merger and became publicly traded. Since its debut, its share price has decreased by 93 per cent.
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