The media portal buzz feed closes its news division Buzzfeed News. The decision is part of cuts that are expected to cut 15 percent of jobs at Buzzfeed across the group, US media reported on Thursday, citing an internal message from Buzzfeed boss Jonah Peretti to the workforce.
In it Peretti wrote that the parent company Buzzfeed could no longer finance Buzzfeed News as an independent organization. “We only continue with the parts of the company that demonstrably contribute to profit,” Peretti is said to have written in the message. Overall, Buzzfeed will lay off 180 employees, around 60 of whom would be eliminated due to the closure of the news division, reported the New York Times.
The affected employees would be offered jobs at the parent company, it said. He had invested too much money in Buzzfeed News because he liked the work of the news division so much, Peretti justified the decision in the email to the employees. However, he realized too late that social media could not provide enough financial support to make Buzzfeed News profitable.
BuzzFeed has stumbled in recent months as advertisers pull out and revenue falls. Despite numerous job cuts, the company has failed to turn a profit. Now, BuzzFeed will focus its news activity on the HuffPost concentrate, which the company acquired in 2020.
