Keyword ‣ layoffs
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Survey after survey shows that Americans have lost trust in the mainstream media and that millions of us have decided to turn to other sources of information. Major media outlets have been losing viewers and readers for years, and now many of the biggest names in the news industry are losing huge sums of money. It was only a matter of time before we saw large-scale layoffs, and now we have.

Of course, it's not just mainstream media that's laying people off. According to Challenger, Gray & Christmas, the number of layoffs in the United States in 2023 was 98% higher than in 2022…

The pace of job cuts by U.S. employers accelerated in 2023, with the number of layoffs jumping 98% from the previous year.

That's according to a new report released by Challenger, Gray & Christmas, which found that companies planned 721 job cuts last year, a significant increase from the 677 layoffs reported in 363.

The problem could worsen in 2024 as the jobs market continues to weaken in the face of high interest rates and stubborn inflation.

But it is true that the information industry is particularly affected. For example, Time Magazine just announced that it would lay off workers “across multiple departments, including editorial, technology, sales and TIME studios”…

Time Magazine laid off an uncertain number of employees across several departments on Tuesday, a move that CEO Jessica Sibley called "a necessary step we must take to move our business forward and improve our financial position."

In an internal staff memo, obtained by Semafor's Max Tani, Sibley announced the cuts.

“We have made the difficult decision to eliminate positions today in several departments, including editorial, technology, sales and TIME studios,” Mr. Sibley wrote to staff. “We are immensely grateful for the contributions of these talented team members during their tenure at TIME.”

When I was growing up, Time Magazine was well respected and my parents often had a copy on the coffee table.

But today it is dying, just like the rest of the mainstream media.

Just look at what's happening to California's largest newspaper. The Los Angeles Times has decided to cut “a little more than 20% of its editorial staff”…

The Los Angeles Times, facing what management described this week as a "financial crisis," began a series of painful layoffs in the newsroom on Tuesday, a reduction in staff that is shaping up to be one of harshest in the newspaper's 142-year history.

The job cuts will affect at least 115 journalists, a person familiar with the matter told CNN, or a little more than 20% of the editorial staff. Some 94 of those cuts will involve union employees, union leader Matt Pearce said, meaning a quarter of the union will be laid off.

Should we be sad that the Los Angeles Times is imploding?

I do not think so.

Elsewhere, Paramount plans to lay off hundreds of workers…

Amid speculation about its future, Paramount Global is carrying out a new wave of staff reductions in February, according to sources who spoke to Deadline. I've heard these reductions will affect hundreds of employees across the company.

For several days, rumors have been circulating about the imminent layoff of around 800 people within Paramount. This follows a WSJ [Wall Street Journal] report in December that the company was considering potentially cutting more than 1000 jobs in early 2024 to cut costs.

Paramount is the parent company of CBS, and so it's likely that CBS' news division is about to get even smaller.

Of course, NBC's news division is shrinking too...

NBC News has laid off several dozen employees, the latest of dozens of companies to start the new year with bad news for its employees, USA TODAY confirmed Friday.

A source familiar with the plans said employees were given 60 days' notice and will receive severance and outplacement services.

Sports journalism has also fallen on hard times.

Right now, it seems like Sports Illustrated's future is very uncertain and many of the magazine's employees are looking for new jobs...

The future of the famous Sports Illustrated magazine darkened Friday after the publisher announced massive layoffs.

Arena Group – which was rocked by reports that the popular magazine was publishing AI-generated content – ​​admitted it failed to make the $3,75 million quarterly payment to Authentic Brands Group , which was to be carried out this week.

As a result, the publicly traded Arena company announced on Thursday that it would make a “significant reduction” in its workforce of more than 100 journalists.

All the stories I just told you happened within the last seven days.

It's crazy how quickly things are changing today.

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