Vice Media Reportedly Cuts 100 Jobs

April 27Vice Media will lay off more than 100 of its roughly 1,500 employees and shut down its Vice World News brand, sources familiar with the matter told the Wall Street Journal, following years of financial challenges for the once-ascendant media company.

April 24ESPN president Jimmy Pitaro announced in a memo the sports news network would begin cutting an unspecified number of employees, though the layoffs will primarily affect management positions, according to the Sports Business Journal, including communications vice president Mike Soltys and Russell Wolff, who oversaw the ESPN+ streaming platform.

April 20Buzzfeed CEO Jonah Peretti told Buzzfeed News staff the online publication would be shut down, according to a memo obtained by the New York Times, as the company shifts toward “concentrating our news efforts” on HuffPost, an outlet the company notes is “profitable.”

April 20Insider Inc.—formerly known as Business Insider—announced it would begin cutting an estimated 10% of its staff in an effort to “keep our company healthy and competitive,” an Insider spokesperson told Forbes.

March 30Disney’s broadcast news division announced it was laying 50 people at ABC News, following an earlier announcement by CEO Bob Iger indicating the company would continue an ongoing round of layoffs.

March 30Spotify laid off an estimated 15 employees from its product insight team, according to Bloomberg, after a round of layoffs in January that impacted approximately 600 roles at the company.

March 29Salem Media Group, a Texas-based Christian radio broadcaster, announced it would lay off about 3% of its 1,436 employees, according to RadioInsight.

March 27The Texas Observer’s staff of 17, who reportedly heard about the impending layoffs from reporters at the Texas Tribune, asked the Texas Democracy Foundation’s board to reconsider the decision to close the paper and set up an emergency GoFundMe page in a last ditch effort to find funding (the fundraising effort reversed the layoff plan for the time being).

March 23NPR canceled four podcasts—Invisibilia, Louder Than a Riot, Rough Translation and Everyone and Their Mom—and bean laying off 100 employees as part of a push to reduce a reported budget deficit of $30 million.

March 21NPR affiliate New England Public Media announced it will lay off 17 employees—20% of its staff—by March 31 after facing “serious financial headwinds during the last three years,” New England Public Media management tells Boston public radio.

March 19Sea Coast Media and Gannett, a media conglomerate with hundreds of papers and Sea Coast Media’s parent company, laid off 34 people and closed a printing press in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, as part of Gannet’s efforts to reduce the number of operating presses and prioritize digital platforms.

February 26Three Alabama newspapers—The Birmingham News, The Huntsville Times and the Press-Register—laid off 100 people following a prolonged decrease in print paper circulation, Alabama Media Group President Tom Bates told NPR.

February 17New York public radio station WNYC canceled radio show The Takeaway after 15 years on air after the show reportedly became too expensive to produce amid a declining audience—a reported 12, including host Melissa Harris-Perry, will lose their jobs.

February 9News Corp, which owns the Wall Street Journal and HarperCollins publishers, among others, expects to lay off 1,250 people across all businesses by the end of 2023, Chief Executive Robert Thomson reportedly told investors following compounding declines in profit.

January 24The Washington Post stops publishing its video game and kids sections, laying off 20 people a little over a month after publisher Fred Ryan foreshadowed layoffs in 2023—executive editor Sally Buzbee reportedly told employees the layoffs were geared toward staying competitive and no more are scheduled.

January 23The marketing trade publication Adweek laid off 14 people, according to employees.

January 21Vox Media, which owns The Verge, SB Nation and New York Magazine, laid off 133 people—7% of the media conglomerate’s staff—in anticipation of a declining economy, chief executive Jim Bankoff reportedly tells staff.

January 19Entertainment company and fan platform Fandom laid off less than 50 people at affiliated GameSpot, Giant Bomb, Metacritic and TV Guide, Variety reports, mere months after Fandom acquired the four outlets, among others, for $55 million.

January 13The Medford, Oregon-based Mail Tribune shut down their digital publication after hiring difficulties and declining advertising sales, according to publisher and chief executive Steven Saslow—an undisclosed number of people were laid off and severance packages depend on signing a non-disclosure agreement, the Oregonian reports.

January 12NBC News and MSNBC laid off 75 employees as part of a broader corporate reorganization.

January 4Gannett closed a printing press in Greece, New York, as part of an increased focus on online journalism, resulting in the layoffs of 108 people.

January 4Gannett laid off 50 employees at an Indiana printing press to “adapt to industry conditions,” a spokesperson told the Indiana Star—the press remains open and the layoffs aren’t expected to affect newspaper employees.