Dhe media group Buzzfeed is closing 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.
Overall, Buzzfeed will lay off 180 employees, around 60 of whom would be eliminated due to the closure of the news division, as reported by 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 mail to the employees. However, he realized too late that social media could not provide enough financial support to make Buzzfeed News profitable.
In the future, the company will only operate “a single news brand” with the “HuffPost” news portal.
Buzzfeed company was founded in 2006 and became known for its listings and quizzes on buzzfeed.com. News subsidiary Buzzfeed News was founded in 2011 and has become a symbol of a new wave of internet media companies. In 2020, Buzzfeed bought the news portal Huffington Post.
Buzzfeed News has established branches in several countries over the years, including Germany. The German branch now belongs to the Ippen media group.