- Pharrell Williams to co-chair Met Gala exploring Black dandyism
- Taiwan's president to deliver key speech for National Day
- Sea row on the menu as ASEAN leaders meet China's Li
- Injured Kane won't start England's Nations League clash with Greece
- Discord seen as online home for renegades
- US forecasts severe solar storm starting Thursday
- Mozambique starts tallying votes in tense election
- Zelensky moves to court European leaders in drive for military aid
- Ratan Tata: Indian mogul who built a global powerhouse
- Rodgers rejects 'false' suggestions of role in Saleh dismissal
- One dead as storm Kirk tears through Spain, Portugal, France
- Indian business titan Ratan Tata dead at 86
- Lebanon facing 'catastrophic' situation as 600,000 displaced: UN
- US warns Israel not to repeat Gaza destruction in Lebanon
- Musk's X returns in Brazil after 40-day showdown with judge
- Call her savvy? Harris unleashes unconventional media blitz
- Lucian Freud 'masterpiece' fetches £13.9 million at London sale
- SoFi Stadium to hold next two CONCACAF Nations League finals
- McIlroy and DeChambeau set for PGA-LIV 'Showdown' in Vegas
- Fed minutes highlight divisions over rate cut decision
- Steve McQueen debuts new WWII film at London festival
- Run blitz edges India and South Africa closer to World Cup semi-finals
- Zelensky to court European leaders in drive for military aid
- Israel captain says 'difficult' to focus on football in time of war
- Macron to host Ukraine's Zelensky after meeting Ukrainian troops
- Root says 'many more to get' after England Test runs landmark
- India pile up World Cup high to rout Sri Lanka
- One year later, Israeli hostage family learns of loss
- Texans receiver Collins, Pats' safety Peppers out for NFL clash
- Biden-Netanyahu talk as Hezbollah, Israeli forces clash
- Musk's X available again in Brazil after 40-day ban
- Reddy stars as India crush Bangladesh to clinch T20 series
- Nobel winners hope protein work will spur 'incredible' breakthroughs
- What are proteins again? Nobel-winning chemistry explained
- Arch rivals Ghana, Nigeria drawn together in CHAN qualifying
- AI steps into science limelight with Nobel wins
- Trump lauds India's Modi as 'total killer'
- Wall Street, Europe rise as Chinese shares tumble
- Hunkering down for Hurricane Milton at Disney -- but first, a few rides
- Reddy, Rinku power India to 221-9 in second Bangladesh T20
- Overshooting 1.5C risks 'irreversible' climate impact: study
- Time running out in Florida to flee Hurricane Milton
- Demis Hassabis, from chess prodigy to Nobel-winning AI pioneer
- The long walk for water in the parched Colombian Amazon
- Biden-Netanyahu to talk as Hezbollah, Israeli forces clash
- France vows to step up drugs fight after police vehicles torched
- Air France says jet flew over Iraq during Iran attack on Israel
- Activists target Picasso work to protest Israel arms sales
- Let 'Emily in Paris' remain in Paris, Macron says
- Global stocks diverge as Chinese shares tumble
BuzzFeed to close news operation
BuzzFeed announced Thursday that it was shutting its news division as part of cost-saving cuts, signalling the end of one of the most notable news websites of the internet era.
The company cited challenges including recession in the tech sector and the struggling stock market, with CEO Jonah Peretti admitting he was partly at fault for the closure.
"We are reducing our workforce by approximately 15 percent today... and beginning the process of closing BuzzFeed News," Peretti wrote in a memo to staff.
BuzzFeed shares plunged more than 20 percent on Wall Street following the news.
Peretti said the company had come to the conclusion that it "can no longer continue to fund BuzzFeed News as a standalone organization."
He added that it would now concentrate its news output on its HuffPost website.
Peretti also cited the coronavirus pandemic, less capital, a decelerating digital advertising market and "ongoing audience and platform shifts."
"Dealing with all of these obstacles at once is part of why we've needed to make the difficult decisions to eliminate more jobs and reduce spending," he said.
Peretti conceded that he could have reacted better to the challenges.
"I also want to be clear: I could have managed these changes better as the CEO of this company and our leadership team could have performed better despite these circumstances," he wrote.
Peretti admitted that he had decided "to overinvest in BuzzFeed News because I love their work and mission so much."
"This made me slow to accept that the big platforms wouldn't provide the distribution or financial support required to support premium, free journalism purpose-built for social media," he wrote.
Peretti added that he regretted that he didn't hold the company to higher standards for profitability.
BuzzFeed, an American digital company created in 2006, first became known for its lists and topical quizzes.
But in late 2011 it founded BuzzFeed News, which won a number of awards and became a symbol of a new wave of internet media companies.
It received plaudits for its investigative work won a Pulitzer Prize in 2021 for its coverage of the Chinese government's detention of Muslims in Xinjiang.
In November 2020, the platform headquartered in New York bought the Huffington Post news site from Verizon, without disclosing the amount.
"Moving forward, we will have a single news brand in HuffPost, which is profitable, with a loyal direct front page audience," Peretti wrote.
He added that the company would offer some jobs at HuffPost and BuzzFeed.com to BuzzFeed News staff members.
T.Ward--AMWN