Buzzfeed to close Australian news operations
Buzzfeed will no longer cover local Australian stories, with staff to be told today about stand-downs.
A Buzzfeed spokesperson told Mumbrella the decision to effectively pull out of Australia was for “economic and strategic” reasons so the struggling outfit could focus on “news that hits big in the United States”.
Working in the media feels like being a polar bear on an ice sheet watching, waiting for the next bit to fall.
And Mumbrella almost needs to come with a mental health advisory these days with so much awful industry news day after day. Truly sad and scary times.
Hi LTRFTP,
Thank you for joining us in the comments section.
It is indeed sad and scary times, and I feel you re the mental health toll of awful industry news. I’m trying not to fall into the trap of “everything is awful”, so if you, or anyone else, does have good news to share, please do get in touch:
news@mumbrella.com.au
For now, cling onto that ice sheet and stay safe,
Vivienne – Mumbrella
Actually polar bears are excellent swimmers and can swim long distances if they need to find another ice sheet. There might be a lesson in that for all of us.
We’ve seen this time and again across different media verticals, including technology. In times of adversity, there are those U.S. and European companies who pull out of international regions, including APAC – Asian financial crisis, global financial crisis, now COVID-19.
For these fair weather friends, territories like Australia are extra cream on top of what will always be their main market – home.
When the crisis subsides, however, it is always harder for them to regain a foothold.
Will Australians turn first to Buzzfeed for their source of the circus that is U.S. news? Doubtful.
What a shame–Buzzfeed News surprisingly has great news coverage and has been building up a solid base of well-researched stories.
Here’s hoping they find a way in a post-COVID world to get a foot back in the Aussie market.
If they do not intend to resume operations as suggested one would assume that legally they cannot just stand down their staff, and any application under the Jobkeeper stimulus would be considered fraudulent. They have to retrench them with full payouts.
Always harder when it is digital only and ad model only funded. This is where the subscriptions model (along with ads) and quality journalism comes into its own. A lot of entrants came into Aus from the US and UK and a lot have left the market. I’m sure more will follow.
“Cost-cutting goals” – ie how little can we get away with outlaying. Gross.
The team at Buzzfeed were fabulous, every campaign I ran with them was great. The most professional team and content/creators writers among the youth publishers. Truly a standout and I wish them all the best.
Oh no, who will rank the best Shapes flavours in order now!
But seriously, this was inevitable – it was not caused by Covid, it just accelerated the reality. Ben Shepherd wrote a brilliant piece on Mumbrella last year that foreshadowed this. Ultimately the business grew with venture capital that wasn’t consistent with the economics of what the business could actually achieve. You just can’t scale a media company the way you can Facebook.
It’s sad for the employees losing their jobs, I’m sure they worked hard and I hope they all land on their feet.