BuzzFeed Halts News Operations in Australia and America – Various iety
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The company has confirmed that BuzzFeed will close its news production activities in Australia and the United States. Like many, the digital organization has been hit hard by the economic consequences of the coronavirus epidemic.
“For both economic and strategic reasons, we are going to focus on big hit news in the United States at this difficult time. Therefore, we will inform staff in the United States and Australia that we do not plan to cover local news in those countries. We will consult with staff on our plans for furloughs and stand-downs in these areas, “said a company spokesman Diversity Via email. It is understood that four of them are workers in Australia and ten in the UK
The statement added, “In the United States, we still plan to retain some employees who are focused on social media, celebrity and investigative news with a global audience.”
The company expanded from social entertainment to news journalism in Australia in 2014. The cutbacks are still part of a global spending reduction plan that is still out of shape.
Last week, BuzzFeed said they hoped to avoid layoffs during the economic downturn caused by COVID-19 and would instead lay off U.S. employees without pay in mid-August. Among other cost-cutting measures, the firm will extend the pay cut period until the end of the year.
On Friday, the new editor-in-chief, Mark Schoffs, is expected to explain more about BuzzFeed’s new editorial structure and vision. Among the changes, Tom Namco, who led BuzzFeed through the COVID-19 crisis, has been appointed the new deputy editor-in-chief.
However, the cuts are not expected to completely remove the financial loss in the newsroom. “The company is still investing heavily in the news. This year, we created a project that News will spend about 10 10 million more than that and next year about 6 6 million, ”the spokesman said.
“In the United States, we are open to considering other options in our discussions, including the Workshare Program. For these options we need to meet savings goals, be legally and logistically efficient and allow us to continue to produce dynamic, robust journalism. In particular, we invite Newsgild to work with us on whether we can use a program called ‘Workshare’ to achieve our cost-cutting goals, instead of Farlogos. We look forward to our discussions and discussions with the Guild – including Workshare – so that we can deliver our much-needed savings and create high-tempo, explosive journalism that relies on our readers, ”the organization said.
