BuzzFeed News shuts down as company lays off 15% of staffers

BuzzFeed News has published its last listicle.

The parent company of the site that first gained popularity with lists such as “10 Important Life Lessons You Can Learn From Cats” — and also published the now-debunked Steele dossier — is being shut down, according to a memo from BuzzFeed Inc. CEO Jonah Peretti on Thursday.

Peretti said scrapping the site was part of a broader shakeup that includes laying off 15% of staffers companywide — which amounts to 180 jobs. BuzzFeed Inc. also owns the online news sites HuffPost and the Complex Networks.

“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 wrote in the memo with the subject line “Difficult News.”

“Moving forward, we will have a single news brand in HuffPost, which is profitable, with a loyal direct front page audience,” Peretti added.

In a final act of rebellion, BuzzFeed News staffers sent out a push notification to mobile devices that read: “buzzfeed news is logging off with a reminder that blippi pooped on his friend.”

In 2019, BuzzFeed News reported that Blippi, a popular YouTube children’s entertainer whose legal name is Stevin John, was seen in a 2013 video defecating on his friend who was naked.

Many of the laid-off staffers are members of the NewsGuild of New York union, which they joined in 2019.

“We are concerned both about their future and the broader impact of this announcement on the media industry at large” said NewsGuild of New York President Susan DeCarava.

The group signed a three-year collective bargaining contract in 2021 which includes protections that ensure workers aren’t left with nothing in case of sudden layoffs, DeCarava said.

Peretti said some union members may be rehired by the company.

“HuffPost and BuzzFeed Dot Com have signaled that they will open a number of select roles for members of BuzzFeed News,” Peretti wrote.

He also announced a shakeup in the executive ranks.

“As part of today’s changes, both our CRO (chief revenue officer) Edgar Hernandez and COO (chief operating officer) Christian Baesler have made the decision to exit the company,” Peretti wrote.

“I’m grateful to both of them for their passion and dedication to Complex and to BuzzFeed, Inc.”

Peretti said company president Marcela Martin would assume all revenue-related responsibilities “effective immediately.”

The company’s new head of sales, Andrew Guendjoian, and Ken Blom, the head of revenue operations, will report to Martin, according to Peretti.

Peretti wrote that the changes are aimed at “reducing layers in their organization, increasing speed and effectiveness of pitches, streamlining our product mix, doubling down on creators, and beginning to bring AI enhancements to every aspect of our sales process.”

The CEO listed several factors that have combined to create severe economic headwinds, including “a pandemic, a fading SPAC market that yielded less capital, a tech recession, a tough economy, a declining stock market, a decelerating digital advertising market and ongoing audience and platform shifts.”

Peretti acknowledged that he “could have managed these changes better as the CEO of this company and our leadership team could have performed better despite these circumstances.”

“Our job is to adapt, change, improve, and perform despite the challenges in the world,” the CEO wrote.

“We can and will do better.”

In December, BuzzFeed reduced headcount by some 12% by axing 1,522 employees across six countries.

Peretti wrote in a regulatory filing that the company would face a severe economic downturn well into this year.

At the time of its initial public offiering in March 2021, BuzzFeed was valued at around $9.80 a share.

The company’s stock closed Thursday at 75 cents a share — a 93% decline.

Its revenue fell 7.6% in the fourth quarter compared to the same period last year, while its net income nosedived by a whopping 360%.

BuzzFeed said AI will not replace any of the jobs being cut, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Peretti had reportedly come under pressure from shareholders to close down the newsroom, which has lost millions of dollars in recent years despite winning a Pulitzer Prize in 2021

Last year, the newsroom was stunned at the exodus of top executives, including then-editor in chief Mark Schoofs and two of his deputies, Tom Namako and Ariel Kaminer.