![\"BuzzFeed](\"https:\/\/c.ndtvimg.com\/2019-01\/qceg0cfk_buzzfeed-office-istock_625x300_27_January_19.jpg\"\/ "\\"BuzzFeed")
<\/div>\nBuzzFeed first became known for its lists and topical quizzes. (File)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
New York: <\/b><\/p>\n
BuzzFeed announced Thursday that it was shutting its news division as part of cost-saving cuts, signalling the end of one of the most notable news websites of the internet era.<\/p>\n
The company cited challenges including recession in the tech sector and the struggling stock market, with CEO Jonah Peretti admitting he was partly at fault for the closure.<\/p>\n
“We are reducing our workforce by approximately 15 percent today… and beginning the process of closing BuzzFeed News,” Mr Peretti wrote in a memo to staff.<\/p>\n
BuzzFeed shares plunged more than 20 percent on Wall Street following the news.<\/p>\n
Mr Peretti said the company had come to the conclusion that it “can no longer continue to fund BuzzFeed News as a standalone organization.”<\/p>\n
He added that it would now concentrate its news output on its HuffPost website.<\/p>\n
Jonah Peretti also cited the coronavirus pandemic, less capital, a decelerating digital advertising market and “ongoing audience and platform shifts.”<\/p>\n
“Dealing with all of these obstacles at once is part of why we’ve needed to make the difficult decisions to eliminate more jobs and reduce spending,” he said.<\/p>\n
Jonah Peretti conceded that he could have reacted better to the challenges.<\/p>\n
“I also want to be clear: I could have managed these changes better as the CEO of this company and our leadership team could have performed better despite these circumstances,” he wrote.<\/p>\n
Mr Peretti admitted that he had decided “to overinvest in BuzzFeed News because I love their work and mission so much.”<\/p>\n
“This made me slow to accept that the big platforms wouldn’t provide the distribution or financial support required to support premium, free journalism purpose-built for social media,” he wrote.<\/p>\n
Jonah Peretti added that he regretted that he didn’t hold the company to higher standards for profitability.<\/p>\n
BuzzFeed, an American digital company created in 2006, first became known for its lists and topical quizzes.<\/p>\n
But in late 2011 it founded BuzzFeed News, which won a number of awards and became a symbol of a new wave of internet media companies.<\/p>\n
It received plaudits for its investigative work won a Pulitzer Prize in 2021 for its coverage of the Chinese government’s detention of Muslims in Xinjiang.<\/p>\n
In November 2020, the platform headquartered in New York bought the Huffington Post news site from Verizon, without disclosing the amount.<\/p>\n
“Moving forward, we will have a single news brand in HuffPost, which is profitable, with a loyal direct front page audience,” Peretti wrote.<\/p>\n
He added that the company would offer some jobs at HuffPost and BuzzFeed.com to BuzzFeed News staff members.<\/p>\n
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n