Shortly after the news broke, the NowThis Union shared a statement revealing that a whopping 50% of the staff had been laid off.
“Many of us are concerned about the direction the company is taking – away from editorial standards, as made especially clear by the gutting of the entire copy team, removal of published content, and major shift in coverage to attract advertisers. We are concerned for our colleagues who have been let go and for those who are still here,” the statement read.
In December, Vox Media, the publisher of NowThis, laid off 4% of its staff – at least 20 people, according to the New York Times.
The latest round of downsizing comes at a markedly brutal time for publications supported by advertising revenue linked to online traffic. Not only is traffic down, in part a consequence of a decline in referrals from search engines, but the rates advertisers are willing to pay for page views are also declining.
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2024/feb/15/layoffs-vox-media-nowthis-intercept