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BuzzFeed News is shutting down, CEO says, as company cuts 15% of workforce

Jordan Mendoza
USA TODAY

BuzzFeed News, which won a Pulitzer Prize less than two years ago, is shutting down.

BuzzFeed chief executive Jonah Peretti announced the shut down Thursday morning in a memo to employees as the media company plans to cut 15% of its workforce. 

"While layoffs are occurring across nearly every division, we’ve determined that the company can no longer continue to fund BuzzFeed News as a standalone organization," Peretti said in the memo shared with USA TODAY.

"We've faced more challenges than I can count in the past few years," Peretti continued. "Dealing with all of these obstacles at once is part of why we've needed to make the difficult decisions to eliminate more jobs and reduce spending."

BuzzFeed's business, content, tech and administration teams are also part of the job cuts. 

The entrance to BuzzFeed in New York is seen on Nov. 19, 2020. Pulitzer prize winning digital media company BuzzFeed is cutting about 15% of its staff, according to multiple media reports. In a memo sent to staff, co-founder and CEO Jonah Peretti said that the New York company was going to start the process of shutting down its news division, and that cuts would also occur across its business, content, tech and administrative teams.

Why is BuzzFeed News shutting down?

Peretti listed the following challenges that played a role in BuzzFeed News shutting down:

  • COVID-19 pandemic
  • Tech recession
  • Tough economy
  • Declining stock market
  • Decelerating digital advertising market 
  • Ongoing audience and platform shifts
  • The integration of BuzzFeed and Complex

"I could have managed these changes better as the CEO of this company and our leadership team could have performed better despite these circumstances," Peretti said.

"I made the decision to overinvest in BuzzFeed News because I love your work and mission so much. This made me slow to accept that the big platforms wouldn’t provide the distribution or financial support required to support premium, free journalism purpose-built for social media. 

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What to know about BuzzFeed News

The New York City-based news outlet was launched in 2012 as part of BuzzFeed, which was founded in 2006. 

Known for writing stories aiming at younger audiences, the outlet had won several awards in recent years, most notably a Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting in 2021, which focused on Chinese internment camps and the mass detention of Muslims.

In December, BuzzFeed cut 12% of its workforce, Variety reported, which came after BuzzFeed News was cut by 1.7% in March 2022. 

What happens to BuzzFeed News employees?

Peretti said HuffPost, which was acquired by BuzzFeed in 2020, and BuzzFeed.com signaled they will open a number of selected roles for BuzzFeed News staffers laid off. 

"These roles will be aligned with those divisions’ business goals and match the skills and strengths of many of BuzzFeed News's editors and reporters," Perretti said. "Moving forward, we will have a single news brand in HuffPost, which is profitable, with a loyal direct front page audience."

Follow Jordan Mendoza on Twitter: @jordan_mendoza5.

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