BuzzFeed to close news division in order to cut 15% of its workforce

BuzzFeed announced that it will be closing its news division. The media company founded in 2006 made this decision as part of its attempt to cut 15% of its workforce. An estimated 60 jobs will be affected.

The news came from Jonah Peretti, who founded the company with Jonah S. Johnson III. In a statement to employees, he explained that he made "the decision to over-invest" in the news division because he was very happy with the work they had been doing. However, he acknowledged that it took him time to accept that it was gradually becoming less profitable.

"I have learned from these mistakes, and the team going forward has learned from them as well. We know that the changes and improvements we are making today are necessary steps to building a better future," he added in the statement that he shared with "NBC News."

"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 said.

The company plans to offer to relocate the 60 employees affected to other media outlets such as the Huffington Post and BuzzFeed.com. Edgar Hernandez, BuzzFeed's chief revenue officer, and Christian Baesler, the company's chief operating officer, agreed to stay on during the transition before leaving their jobs at the company.

The media outlet won a Pulitzer Prize in 2021, thanks to a series exposing the mass detention of Muslims in China.