Industry News
New York Times Journalists Stage 24-hour Strike
After more than a year and a half of bargaining, management and the union representing staffers failed to agree on a new contract, leading to a day-long strike on December 8th. The strike began as a historical demonstration in which more than 1,100 employees participated. The event caused significant disruption to the newspaper as many major desks were depleted from their staff, leaving millions of readers with no material. Negotiations are back on the table, and contract modifications are yet to come.
Buzzfeed Plans to Cut 12% of its Workforce
As the worry about the anticipation of an economic downtown worsens, several companies have taken action to decrease costs, Buzzfeed being one of them. Buzzfeed’s CEO, Jonah Peretti, expressed their revenues had been greatly affected this year due to worsening macroeconomic conditions and the audience shift to vertical video. He addressed his staff to explain that costs had to be cut, and as staff salaries are the single most significant company cost, they would be reduced by 12% this year. He also said he expects the downturn to extend into 2023.
The Washington Post Puts an End to The Sunday Magazine
Publications have seen a hard revenue year because of the state of the economy, which is one of the main reasons why The Washington Post announced they would be closing their Sunday magazine area and would eliminate several editorial positions associated with it. The magazine has been part of The Post since 1986 and was an excellent source for online users, receiving a high volume of readers. tps://bit.ly/3Hvx9QF
Vice Food Vertical, “Munchies” Shuts Down
The rumor of Munchie’s column ending has been around the web for a while, as the company laid off a high percentage of its employees. Recently, executives confirmed the news, explaining that the company was restructuring and had other exciting things coming for the new year. Yet, it was unfortunate to see the food vertical end. Munchies has gone through a few iterations since its launch in 2014 with a YouTube video. They later launched scheduled food-television programming with several famous shows.
Career Moves
Emma Tucker to Replace Matt Murray in Top Spot at The Wall Street Journal.
Emma Tucker will become the first woman to serve as a top editor in the Journal’s history. She will take over the editor-in-chief role, replacing Matt Murray after almost five years. Tucker is a British journalist from the Sunday Times of London, with a close relationship with Rupert Murdoch. Matt Murray will now take a new executive role, reporting to the chief executive, Robert Thomson.
Barbara Starr is Leaving CNN
Barbara Starr, a Pentagon correspondent at CNN, will leave the network after over two decades. Starr announced her departure in a memo as her contract was coming to an end, mentioning she wanted to explore new opportunities but she hasn’t yet announced her next steps. She joined CNN in 2001 from ABC News, where she also reported for Nightline, World News This Morning, World News Now, ABC Radio, and ABCNews.com, and served as Washington bureau chief for a London-based weekly news magazine. In her 21 years at CNN, she reported from Iraq, Afghanistan, Russia, Central America, and many other locations.
Three New Hires Join the Morning Mix at The Washington Post
Kyle Melnick, Praveena Somasundaram, and Daniel Wu will join the Morning Mix as staff writers. Melnick used to cover college sports for The Post for the last five years. He previously worked for The University of Maryland’s newspaper focusing on sports. Somasundaram recently joined The Post as a breaking news reporter and covered essential stories like Queen Elizabeth II’s Death. Lastly, Wu also joined The Post, recently covering Metro.
The New York Times Announces New Education Desk Hire
Vimal Patel will join the education desk at The New York Times, focusing mainly on free speech issues. He used to work at the Express desk covering night-breaking news reports. Patel started his career at the Chronicle of Higher Education, where he worked for over seven years, reporting on graduate education, student success, and campus culture.
