New York-based website BuzzFeed has eradicated its news division by digital media companies in reports that shareholders have urged founder and CEO Jonah Peretti to shut down altogether.
The newsroom, which loses about $ 10 million a year in Buzzfeed, is offering voluntary acquisitions while some top editors are leaving.
Departures include Mark Schoofs, Editor-in-Chief of BuzzFeed News, and Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Tom Namako, who announced the move to NBC News Digital on Tuesday. Ariel Kaminar, the editor-in-chief of the study, has also left.
According to CNBC, some major shareholders have instructed founder and CEO Jonah Peretti to suspend the entire news operation.
In BuzzFeed’s earnings announcement on Tuesday, CEO Jonah Peretti said he was accelerating investment in vertical video, which is popular with apps such as TikTok.
BuzzFeed founder and CEO Jonah H. Peretti will speak at Nasdaq in December 2021.
New York-based Buzzfeed is offering a voluntary acquisition in a high-profile 100-person newsroom, with some top editors gone.
The BuzzFeed News logo adorns the walls of the BuzzFeed headquarters.Media and news company was founded in 2006
When it comes to the news department, “we need to make it smaller,” and “prioritize the areas of coverage that our audience is most connected to,” Peretti said in a memo to employees.
With earnings announcements, the company needs to make BuzzFeed News a “stronger financial contributor to big companies,” focusing on the latest news, culture and entertainment, celebrities, and life on the Internet. Said it was necessary to guess. ‘
But at a meeting that was recorded and leaked to Business Insider, Peretti took a more realistic approach to what’s happening in his news department.
According to voice, Peretti said the strategy would be “the best news and scoop of the day, the internet, culture, our own lives, our health, and the best coverage of faster research.” rice field.
“I’m not going to subsidize anymore [the news division] With income from other sectors, it’s a change from the past, “he added. “We’ve done that for years, but now we need to turn news into a sustainable business.”
By the time staff were allowed to ask questions, reporters said Peretti had already left the meeting.
Although BuzzFeed News is not profitable, it has won awards, including last year’s first Pulitzer Prize, and its staff has been regularly poached by traditional news organizations.
Outlet spokesman Matt Mittental said about 35 people were eligible for the deal, but the company doesn’t expect all of them to buy.
Several executives on the phone wanted to avoid layoffs and wanted the voluntary acquisition to save enough money to avoid layoffs.
BuzzFeed’s focus on the latest news and light content provides buyouts to news staff on research, inequality, political, and scientific teams.
BuzzFeed founders and CEOs Jonah H. Peretti and BuzzFeed celebrate the listing date of BuzzFeed Inc. on December 6, 2021 in Nasdaq.
The entrance to BuzzFeed in New York will be seen on November 19, 2020. In the news released on Tuesday, March 22, 2022, BuzzFeed turned and shrunk its news department as the best-known digital media company for easy-going quizzes strives to improve profitability. I am.
Mark Schoofs, Editor-in-Chief of BuzzFeed News, announced his departure prior to the cut to the newsroom.
Deputy Editor-in-Chief Tom Namako and Executive Editor for Research Ariel Kaminer leave the company
Rosalind Adams, an investigative journalist at BuzzFeed News, tweeted: It’s a sad day to see @BuzzFeedNews move away from the job’s reputation.
In addition to the acquisition of the newsroom, the company also said it has reduced its staff by 1.7%.
In a January filing with securities regulators, Buzzfeed said the savings would be around 25, with 1,524 employees in the United States and abroad.
BuzzFeed’s stock has fallen by more than 40% since it went public in early December through what’s called SPAC, which merged with a company it already trades with rather than an IPO.
The company celebrated its strong year in 2021 and reported in its earnings announcement on Tuesday. Thanks to increased e-commerce and advertising revenue, that revenue increased 24% to $ 397.6 million and profits more than doubled to $ 25.9 million.
Buzzfeed Inc.’s share price rose 32 cents (6.5%), closing at $ 5.27 on Tuesday.
However, including the acquisition of Complex Networks, a group of pop culture sites acquired by BuzzFeed last year, revenue is expected to decline this quarter.
Separate layoffs from the news department are from the editorial side of BuzzFeed Video and Complex.
BuzzFeed also acquired the HuffPost in early 2021 and immediately fired dozens of staff.
The last direct dismissal of Buzzfeed staff took place in July 2020 when the company dismissed 70% of the temporarily dismissed workers.
Buzzfeed Inc.’s share price rose 32 cents (6.5%), closing at $ 5.27 on Tuesday.