BuzzFeed shutters news operation, will cut about 180 employees
BNN Bloomberg
BuzzFeed Inc. is shutting its news operation and business-news publisher Insider Inc. is cutting about 10% of its staff in the latest signs of retrenchment in the digital-media business.
BuzzFeed Chief Operating Officer Christian Baesler and Chief Revenue Officer Edgar Hernandez are leaving as part of the cutbacks, Chief Executive Officer Jonah Peretti said Thursday in a memo to staff. About 180 positions are being eliminated there.
“We are moving forward only with parts of the business that have demonstrated their ability to add to the bottom line,” Peretti said in the memo. “That means we will no longer be supporting BuzzFeed News as a standalone organization.”
Insider, co-founded by former Wall Street analyst Henry Blodget, began letting staffers know they are losing their jobs on Thursday and planned an all-hands meeting shortly thereafter. Workers getting let go will receive at least 13 weeks of base pay, according to a staff memo.
