BuzzFeed News, the news website that won the Pulitzer Prize and popularized listicles, is winding down.
BuzzFeed, one of the earliest digital-only media companies, launched the news website in 2012, and it became known for penning stories for younger audiences.
The CEO of the New York City-based company, Jonah Peretti, announced the closure in a memo to employees on Thursday morning, as the media company intends to reduce its workforce by 15%.
Peretti stated in a memo shared with USA TODAY, “While layoffs are occurring across nearly every division, we’ve determined that the company can no longer fund BuzzFeed News as a standalone organization.”
In recent years, the publication has garnered numerous awards, including the Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting in 2021 for its coverage of Chinese internment camps and the mass detention of Muslims.
The layoffs highlight the difficulties faced by the media and technology industries as a result of the declining economy. In fact, the news was released on the same day that Insider, a digital news media company, announced it would lay off 10% of its workforce.
