From CNN television channels to Vox Media, via the washington post and the New YorkMagazinethe American media is going through a difficult period economically and has been laying off en masse since December, in a context of high inflation in the country.
The latest social plan to date, Vox Media, which owns The Verge and NBA news sites and the prestigious New YorkMagazine, parted ways with 7% of its staff. One hundred and thirty people out of the 1,900 in the group will be made redundant. All departments are concerned, including editorial.
CNN, NBC cut hundreds of posts. the washington post announces job losses this first quarter of 2023.
If the crisis in the American media is not as severe as that which hits the giants of Tech, which laid off 70,000 people, the media are also suffering the consequences of the drop in advertising revenues and the slowing economy, according to Chris Roush, professor of journalism at Quinnipiac University in Connecticut.
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More and more competition
TV channels are also facing a growing decline in the number of viewers and cable subscribers due to competition from streaming platforms like Netflix, Disney or HBO.
For ten years, between 2008 and 2020, employment in the American media has been in decline, particularly in the press. The sector has gone from 114,000 journalists to 85,000, according to the pew research center.
The big groups are resilient enough to get by, concludes journalist Chris Roush, but it will be much more difficult for smaller media, such as Buzzfeed, which, after laying off 12% of its staff, must resolve to sell.