BuzzFeed News is shutting down.
In an email to staff shared with NBC News, BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti said the move was part of a 15% workforce reduction across several teams.
“While layoffs are taking place in nearly every division, we have determined that the company can no longer continue to fund BuzzFeed News as an independent organization,” he wrote.
Peretti said he had «overinvested[ed] on BuzzFeed News «because I love your work and mission so much.»
«This made me slow to accept that the big platforms would not provide the necessary distribution or financial support to support free and premium journalism designed specifically for social media,» he wrote.
It added that it had failed to «hold the company to higher standards of profitability» to cushion downturns.
Peretti said he planned to engage with the News Guild union about cost-cutting plans and what they would mean for affected union members.
This is a developing story.