Jezebel shuts down, lays off staff in ‘excruciating’ decision, parent company says
By Oliver Darcy, CNN
(CNN) — Jezebel, the punchy feminist blog with an outsized influence on internet culture, will suspend operations and lay off its staff effective immediately, its parent company G/O Media said Thursday as it announced broader restructuring in its portfolio of digital news outlets.
Jim Spanfeller, chief executive of G/O Media, said in a memo to staff obtained by CNN that the company had tried to sell the publication, but that after talks with two dozen potential buyers, “we could not find Jez a new home.”
“As of this week we are making the very, very difficult decision to suspend publication of Jezebel,” Spanfeller said. “Few decisions over the course of my career have been as excruciating, and I want to make clear this is in NO WAY a reflection on the Jezebel editorial team.”
Spanfeller said he has not “given up” on finding a buyer for Jezebel, which he described as having a “storied legacy as the website that changed women’s media forever.”
Spanfeller additionally announced Thursday that G/O would undergo broader restructuring that will result in layoffs.
“We have been operating over the last few quarters with an eye towards efficiency and being budget conscious. I had been hoping that by doing so we could see our way through these dark times in our industry,” he told employees in his memo. “And indeed, we held out far longer than most. But we can hold out no longer.”
In total, the suspension of Jezebel’s operations and other restructuring actions will “result in the departure of 23 editorial staffers,” Spanfeller said.
The cuts come as the broader media industry continues to struggle with a weak advertising climate. Vice also announced cuts to its news team on Thursday. And across the media landscape, cost cutting and layoffs have been rampant over the past year.
“Just about every company in our space has found themselves in similar circumstances,” Spanfeller said.
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