BuzzFeed is shutting down its BuzzFeed News division, one of its most respected media outlets, as part of a wider effort to turn the struggling media group around and increase profits. The move follows a significant decline in the company’s value, which has plummeted by 90% since it listed in 2021.
BuzzFeed News, which won multiple awards including a Pulitzer Prize, has been a respected source of journalism in the industry, with journalists inside and outside the company expressing sadness at its closure. In a memo to staff, CEO Jonah Peretti took responsibility for the news division’s failure, citing over-investment and a reliance on social media distribution as key factors.
The parent company of media outlets BuzzFeed News, HuffPost, Complex, and Tasty will cut its workforce by 15%, affecting around 180 people. BuzzFeed News, which has around 60 staffers, will begin its shutdown immediately, with BuzzFeed and HuffPost offering roles to some of the impacted employees. Moving forward, HuffPost will become the company’s single news brand, as it has a loyal direct front-page audience and is profitable.
BuzzFeed’s downfall serves as a warning to other digital media companies and highlights the pressure facing the industry to boost revenues and manage expenses. Once a digital media darling, BuzzFeed’s decision to go public via a SPAC in 2021, and its subsequent acquisition of entertainment company Complex Networks, has led to its decline. The company was worth over $700 million at listing but now has a market value of around $100 million.
BuzzFeed’s announcement comes amid a series of mass job cuts across media over the past year, including multiple rounds of cuts at BuzzFeed and 10% of staff layoffs at digital media publication Insider on the same day. The loss of BuzzFeed News has been lamented by former and current staffers on social media, who praised the outlet’s high-quality reporting and mourned its closure.
In conclusion, BuzzFeed’s announcement to shut down its news division underscores the pressures facing the digital media industry and highlights the need for companies to boost revenues and manage expenses. The closure of BuzzFeed News is a significant loss to the journalism industry, and its downfall serves as a cautionary tale for other digital media companies.
