US MEDIA FACES MASSIVE LAYOFFS AMID ECONOMIC DEPRESSION FEARS

Sun 22 January 2023:

Massive layoffs have been announced by various media outlets in the United States, ranging from the Washington Post to CNN, amid growing fears of an economic downturn.

Vox Media, the owner of websites such as The Verge and Vox, as well as the well-known New York Magazine and its online platform, announced on Friday that it will lay off 7% of its workforce. Similar layoffs have been reported at NBC, CNN, Buzzfeed, MSNBC, and other outlets.

The staff received a memo on Friday in which Vox Media CEO Jim Bankoff announced “the difficult decision to eliminate roughly seven per cent of our staff roles across departments due to the challenging economic environment impacting our business and industry”.

The memo stated that the company will notify the employees who have been affected by the layoffs, which means 130 out of 1,900 staff members of the group will be fired, as per the AFP’s report.

Award-winning journalist Meghan McCarron, who has been working for more than nine years at Eater, which is Vox Media’s food website, on Friday tweeted that she was also being laid off while she is 37 weeks pregnant.

“My partner and I are so excited to become parents,” posted McCarron. “I can’t really process the amount of uncertainty we’re now facing,” she stated.

A spokesperson of Vox said that “competitive severance packages” are being offered which include extra severance pay for the employees with “a near-term upcoming parental leave planned.”

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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