BuzzFeed is cutting 200 jobs

ap19024624402718_e1548438922572.jpg

Digital media company BuzzFeed is cutting 15 percent of its jobs, or about 200 people, to trim expenses and become profitable. | AP photo

NEW YORK — Digital media company BuzzFeed is cutting 15 percent of its jobs, or about 200 people, to trim expenses and become profitable.

BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti wrote employees Wednesday that the layoffs will help BuzzFeed avoid having to raise money from investors again.

The privately held company has not been profitable for several years. It has raised hundreds of millions from such investors as Comcast’s NBCUniversal.

Based in New York, BuzzFeed is best known for its viral posts and quizzes and has a well-regarded news division.

Many digital media companies have cut jobs or sold off in recent years as Facebook and Google gobble up the bulk of digital advertising dollars. Verizon also said Wednesday that it is cutting about 800 jobs in its media division, which includes Yahoo and HuffPost.

Newspaper companies have also suffered deep cutbacks , with staffs nearly cut in half since 2004. Reports started rolling in Wednesday of Gannett, one of the country’s largest newspaper publishers, laying off journalists from USA Today, The Arizona Republic and other newspapers. It’s unclear how many jobs were lost. A representative did not respond to requests for comment.

The Latest
Unite Here Local 1, representing the workers at the Signature Room and its lounge, said in a lawsuit in October the employer failed to give 60 days notice of a closing or mass layoff, violating state law.
Uecker has been synonymous with Milwaukee baseball for over half a century.
Doctors say looking at the April 8 eclipse without approved solar glasses — which are many times darker than sunglasses — can lead to retinal burns and can result in blind spots and permanent vision loss.
Antoine Perteet, 33, targeted victims on the dating app Grindr, according to Chicago police.
Glass-facade buildings can disorient birds in flight. The city is expected to update and revise rules for new developments and rehabbed buildings next month. But bird groups say the proposed guidelines need to be mandatory.