Game Over: Shareholders Demand Notorious Leftist Outlet Shut Down Its Entire News Operation
An internet media company is subject to the same economic law of supply and demand as any other business.
Thanks to Big Tech cancel culture suppressing free expression, there is an internet oversupply of progressive hot takes on the issues of the day. Online news is mostly a glut of leftist sites in competition for clicks.
Now a once-successful internet business may be ending its attempts to shape the narrative.
BuzzFeed, the website probably best known for publishing in full the now-debunked Steele dossier in 2017 that helped drive mainstream media coverage of President Donald Trump’s administration for the next three years, is downsizing its news division.
And investors want the company to shut it down altogether.
As reported by CNBC, BuzzFeed News has a staff of about 100. It’s estimated the division loses about $10 million a year, according to CNBC.
The company has offered buyouts to less than 30 of its newsroom employees, CNBC reported, and is working on the buyout package with the NewsGuild of New York.
Three editors of its top editors have already announced they are leaving the company, according to CNBC.
Jonah Peretti, the founder and CEO of BuzzFeed, still hopes to salvage the news division after the reductions, CNBC reported. He acquired the struggling leftist website HuffPost last year and managed to keep it open with layoffs, CNBC noted.
However, investors claim shutting down BuzzFeed News could boost the value of the company’s struggling stock.
BuzzFeed went public in December. Within the first week, the value of its shares plunged almost 40 percent and haven’t recovered, according to CNBC.
When I think of Buzzfeed, I mainly think of spam, not serious journalism.
I think of obnoxious clickbait listicles with absurd titles lurking on the margins of real sites.
Even worse, I think of destructive social engineering disguised as trendy light entertainment. For instance, one of the company’s YouTube videos, for instance was titled “Men Watch Porn With Porn Stars.” (Look it up if you feel compelled to. It’s about as vapid — and valueless — as you’d expect. But great if you want pornography to look mainstream.)
The reporting is no better. The content on BuzzFeed News reflects the site’s notorious left-wing reputation.
Shallow celebrity puff pieces (“Kim Kardashian Told The Hilarious Story Of North West Getting Annoyed At Her Over Her Fashion Choices”) alternate with strident identity politics (“A Texas High School Drill Team Is Being Criticized For Doing A Racist Chant Against Native Americans During A Disney World Routine”) and snarky smears against anyone who opposes the progressive agenda (“Does Ketanji Brown Jackson Think Babies Are Racist And Other Not Exactly On Point Questions From The US Senate”).
Even beyond the disgrace of the Steele dossier’s publication, Buzzfeed has caused controversy before with outrageous accusations, debunked lies, and ludicrously slanted coverage.
That kind of record doesn’t help its creditably as a genuine news source.
It’s also not the first time the site has been forced to resort to layoffs. It happened in 2019 when around 200 workers were let go.
There’s just not enough of an audience to support so many sites trumpeting such similar world views. The audience for BuzzFeed’s flashy and trashy spin on leftism has dwindled.
Responsible shareholders don’t accept sacrificing millions of dollars on progressive virtue signaling. They want a sound return on their investment.
Leftist brownie points don’t count.
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