BuzzFeed is shutting down its news division, the company’s CEO said on April 20.
“I am writing to announce some difficult news,” Jonah Peretti, founder and CEO of BuzzFeed, told employees in a memorandum.
The company is closing BuzzFeed News as part of an effort to cut 15 percent of its workforce.
“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,” Peretti wrote.
BuzzFeed News articles will remain available, and stories already in the works will be published on BuzzFeed properties, a source at the company told The Epoch Times.
Peretti blamed the economy, the “declining stock market,” a slowdown in digital advertising, and shifts in audience behavior.
Peretti also said he could have managed the company better.
“I made the decision to overinvest 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.
“More broadly, I regret that I didn’t hold the company to higher standards for profitability, to give us the buffer needed to manage through economic and industry downturns and avoid painful days like today. Our mission, our impact on culture, and our audience is what matters most, but we need a stronger business to protect and sustain this important work.”
“The reduction in workforce plan is part of a broader strategic reprioritization across the company in order to accelerate revenue growth and improve upon profitability and cash flow,” the company said in an April 20 U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
Some staffers reacted on social media.
“What a ride!!! 8.5 years!!!” David Mack, a longtime employee, wrote on Twitter.
Alana Yzola, who works for Buzzfeed-owned Complex, said she was laid off while on maternity leave.
“Thanks buzzfeed,” she said.
Some BuzzFeed News employees will be offered roles with HuffPost, which the company purchased in 2020, Peretti said.
BuzzFeed started in 2006. It primarily published quizzes and aggregation posts, but later ramped up a news division that once had about 250 employees.
Cuts to BuzzFeed News have happened multiple times in recent years, and the company fired about 180 staffers in late 2022. BuzzFeed had about 1,368 employees after those terminations, according to regulatory filings.
The company reported $436 million in revenue in 2022. That was a 10 percent jump from 2021, but BuzzFeed swung to a net loss of $201.2 million in 2022 from net income of $25.9 million in 2021.
Business Insider said on April 20 that it’s cutting 10 percent of its staff.
