The CNN logo before the fourth Democratic primary debate hosted by CNN and The New York Times at Otterbein University in Westerville, Ohio on October 15, 2019 (AFP/Archives/SAUL LOEB)
CNN, Vox Media, Washington Post… the winter is marked by a new series of layoffs in the American media, a trend that continues against the backdrop of a gloomy economic climate.
“I am part of the group fired by @NBCInvestigates (NBC) (…) I will miss it, but I am grateful for the time here.”
Like Emily Siegel, who did not wish to speak in detail after this tweet on Wednesday, several journalists from the editorial staff of NBC, the channel of the same MSNBC group, or even CNN, took the lead and announced on social networks their dismissal since December.
On Friday, it was at Vox Media, owner of the Vox, The Verge, SBNation sites and since 2019 of the prestigious New York Magazine, that employees received the same email from their boss, Jim Bankoff, announcing “the difficult decision to remove about 7% of our staff in all departments”, including editorial, “due to a difficult economic environment”.
– “15 minutes” –
The employees concerned, around 130 out of 1,900, were notified by a second message “within 15 minutes”, according to this email.
Several of them have testified on social networks to their anger or dismay, such as Meghan McCarron, journalist for “nine and a half years” on the site specializing in catering Eater, and dismissed at “37 weeks” of pregnancy. Vox Media replied to AFP that the group offered “competitive severance packages”, including additional weeks of compensation in the event of imminent parental leave.
Washington Post Managing Editor Fred Ryan speaks at the Washington Post Global Women’s Summit on November 15, 2022 in Washington (GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/Anna Moneymaker)
If the layoffs do not have the scope of the social plans of large tech groups like Google on Friday (12,000 jobs cut), the American media are also affected by “the drop in advertising revenue and the slowdown in the economy” , explains to AFP Chris Roush, professor of journalism and dean of the school of communication at Quinnipiac University (Connecticut).
“A lot of them have grown and expanded in hopes of growing their audiences to a certain level. That hasn’t happened and is unlikely to happen given the economic backdrop,” adds he.
– Fewer journalists –
Newsroom employment has suffered a long decline in the United States, falling from 114,000 to 85,000 journalists between 2008 and 2020, according to a study by the Pew Research Center in 2021. With a more marked decline in the local press.
“Journalism has long been under pressure and a number of companies seem to think now is an opportune time to cut their labor costs,” lamented the Writers Guild of America East union, which oversees the unions. from NBC and MSNBC. Within the two media, which did not respond to AFP, 75 employees were dismissed, according to American media.
An announcement is also dreaded in the Washington Post, where publication director Fred Ryan warned in mid-December that job cuts would take place during the first quarter of 2023, representing “a single-digit percentage” of the 2,500 employees, but without “ net downsizing”.
The editorial staff of the daily bought in 2013 by Jeff Bezos had already learned of the end for Christmas 2022 of the Sunday magazine supplement, winner of two Pulitzer Prizes in 2008 and 2010.
– Competition –
At CNN, the total layoffs in December would have reached several hundred employees according to American media (out of more than 4,000), figures not confirmed by the chain. They took place as part of a reorganization after the merger between WarnerMedia (CNN, HBO Max) and Discovery, which formed media and streaming giant Warner Bros. Discovery.
Vice Media CEO Nancy Dubuc on December 6, 2017 in Los Angeles (GETTY/AFP/Archives/Jesse Grant)
Witnessing the strategic turmoil, in April, the group had abandoned its paid streaming service CNN +, only a month after its launch.
With viewers and paid cable subscribers declining for years and competition from platforms like Netflix, “it’s a constant struggle for these companies to hold on,” said Naveen Sarma, director of U.S. media and telecoms at S&P Global. Ratings.
For Chris Roush, CNN or the Washington Post, “those won’t go away, but a smaller company will have more problems, because it’s smaller and not as established as a media brand” , he explains. He cites in particular Buzzfeed, which laid off 12% of its employees in December, or Vice Media, whose general manager Nancy Dubuc announced to its employees on Friday that it was considering selling the group.
© 2023 AFP
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