BuzzFeed News is shutting down
BuzzFeed News is shutting down.
In an email to employees shared with NBC News, BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti said the move was part of a 15% reduction in workforce across a number of teams.
“While layoffs are occurring in nearly every division, we have determined that the company can no longer continue to fund BuzzFeed News as a standalone organization,” he wrote.
Peretti said he had “overinvested[ed] in BuzzFeed News “because I love their work and mission so much.”[ads1];
“This made me slow to accept that the major platforms would not provide the distribution or financial support required to support premium, free journalism purpose-built for social media,” he wrote.
He added that he had failed to “hold the company to higher standards of profitability” to give it a buffer for downturns.
Peretti said he planned to engage with the News Guild union about the cost-cutting plans and what they would mean for affected union members.
This is a developing story.
