Media
2023 Media Layoffs: Buzzfeed News Shuts Down, Insider Cuts 10%
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Topline
Buzzfeed News is reportedly shutting down after the online publication failed to meet profit expectations, according to an internal memo, following an announcement by Insider Inc. Thursday that it would lay off an estimated 10% of its workforce—as both media companies join a brutal series of closures and layoffs rocking the media industry in 2023.
Timeline
memo obtained by the New York Times, as the company shifts toward “concentrating our news efforts” on HuffPost, an outlet the company notes is “profitable.”
Buzzfeed CEO Jonah Peretti told Buzzfeed News staff the online publication would be shut down, according to aInsider Inc.—formerly known as Business Insider—announced it would begin cutting an estimated 10% of its staff in an effort to “keep our company healthy and competitive,” an Insider spokesperson told Forbes.
announced it was laying 50 people at ABC News, following an earlier announcement by CEO Bob Iger indicating the company would continue an ongoing round of layoffs.
Disney’s broadcast news divisionaccording to Bloomberg, after a round of layoffs in January that impacted approximately 600 roles at the company.
Spotify laid off an estimated 15 employees from its product insight team,according to RadioInsight.
Salem Media Group, a Texas-based Christian radio broadcaster, announced it would lay off about 3% of its 1,436 employees,canceled four podcasts—Invisibilia, Louder Than a Riot, Rough Translation and Everyone and Their Mom—and bean laying off 100 employees as part of a push to reduce a reported budget deficit of $30 million.
NPRtells Boston public radio.
NPR affiliate New England Public Media announced it will lay off 17 employees—20% of its staff—by March 31 after facing “serious financial headwinds during the last three years,” New England Public Media managementlaid off 34 people and closed a printing press in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, as part of Gannet’s efforts to reduce the number of operating presses and prioritize digital platforms.
Sea Coast Media and Gannett, a media conglomerate with hundreds of papers and Sea Coast Media’s parent company,told NPR.
Three Alabama newspapers—The Birmingham News, The Huntsville Times and the Press-Register—laid off 100 people following a prolonged decrease in print paper circulation, Alabama Media Group President Tom Batesreportedly became too expensive to produce amid a declining audience—a reported 12, including host Melissa Harris-Perry, will lose their jobs.
New York public radio station WNYC canceled radio show The Takeaway after 15 years on air after the showreportedly told investors following compounding declines in profit.
News Corp, which owns the Wall Street Journal and HarperCollins publishers, among others, expects to lay off 1,250 people across all businesses by the end of 2023, Chief Executive Robert Thomsonstops publishing its video game and kids sections, laying off 20 people a little over a month after publisher Fred Ryan foreshadowed layoffs in 2023—executive editor Sally Buzbee reportedly told employees the layoffs were geared toward staying competitive and no more are scheduled.
The Washington Postreportedly tells staff.
Vox Media, which owns The Verge, SB Nation and New York Magazine, laid off 133 people—7% of the media conglomerate’s staff—in anticipation of a declining economy, chief executive Jim Bankoffreports, mere months after Fandom acquired the four outlets, among others, for $55 million.
Entertainment company and fan platform Fandom laid off less than 50 people at affiliated GameSpot, Giant Bomb, Metacritic and TV Guide, Varietyaccording to publisher and chief executive Steven Saslow—an undisclosed number of people were laid off and severance packages depend on signing a non-disclosure agreement, the Oregonian reports.
The Medford, Oregon-based Mail Tribune shut down their digital publication after hiring difficulties and declining advertising sales,laid off 75 employees as part of a broader corporate reorganization.
NBC News and MSNBCclosed a printing press in Greece, New York, as part of an increased focus on online journalism, resulting in the layoffs of 108 people.
Gannettlaid off 50 employees at an Indiana printing press to “adapt to industry conditions,” a spokesperson told the Indiana Star—the press remains open and the layoffs aren’t expected to affect newspaper employees.
Gannett




Media
Saskatoon pizza shop overwhelmed by orders after heartfelt social media plea – CTV News Saskatoon


A Saskatoon pizza shop had to shut its doors after a social media post led to an overwhelming number of orders.
“Four o’clock was normal, then by 4:20 everything started hitting real hard, real fast,” Doug Grevna said.
“By 5:00 we were 400 per cent busier than normal.”
The 8th Street Panago location was originally slated to provide pizzas for a family night planned for École St. Matthew School.
However, the event was cancelled following the tragic death of Natasha Fox, a teacher at the school who died in a collision with a cement truck while cycling.
Even though the dough has been prepared for the large order, the shop cancelled it at no charge, given the circumstances.
Moved by the gesture, a parent took to social media asking people to order from the shop so the dough wouldn’t spoil.
“Please consider ordering pizza from Panago on the 8th tonight so that the dough doesn’t spoil and they don’t take a financial hit due to wasted supplies,” the post said.
While Grevna is adamant that he never thought twice about cancelling the order at no cost, he is touched by what happened next.
“It’s actually amazing because we just sort of said … ‘no worries,'” Grevna said.
Grevna had made an offhand comment when the cancellation came in that if the school could send a few customers their way it would help the keep the dough from going to waste — but he only expected a handful of orders.
“Then it just got crazy. It was unreal,” he said.
“Our printer never stopped and we couldn’t even keep up.”
With more and more orders pouring in as the social media post was shared throughout the city, Grevna had to shut the store down temporarily.
“I’ve never really closed before because we were so busy. But there’s no way we could keep up. Our computers only let us go up to 120 minutes for an expected wait time,” he said.
“We had to go beyond that. So we just had to kind of shut it down for a bit before we opened again about a hour and a half later.”
He said they doubled the sales of a normal Thursday night.
“The community just came in waves,” he said.
“It was just overwhelming and we’re super appreciative.”
Media
Rising racing star Lindsay Brewer says she was criticized by female drivers over swimsuit social media posts
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Lindsay Brewer is one of the most popular race car drivers on social media, boasting more than 2.1 million followers on Instagram and over 629,000 on TikTok.
Brewer is currently racing in USF Pro Championships 2000 with a dream to eventually get to IndyCar. But even before she stepped onto the Indy track, she told The Daily Mail in an interview published Sunday that she’s already been hearing negativity from race car drivers about her social media activity.


The 26-year-old driver said she reached out to other female professional drivers and was surprised to hear some of the advice they shared with her.
“I’ve talked to a few female drivers in the past who were older and I asked for advice.… and they were like, ‘Stop posting swimwear photos, this just makes women make look so bad in the industry,’” she told the outlet.
“If you’re truly about feminism and women in the industry, you should allow them to be who they wanna be and not put them in that box. Like you should not say, ‘OK you can’t wear makeup, you have to dress a certain way, you can’t post certain things.’
“I think that’s honestly anti-feminist.”


Lindsay Brewer drives during Indy Pro 2000 practice on May 13, 2022, at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course in Indiana. (Michael Allio/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Brewer dismissed the notion she’s just an “influencer pretending to be a race car driver.” She said she got her start on the track in go-karts when she was 11. She said racing was something she was passionate about and was able to take a few years off for college and build a brand to help fund her racing.
Brewer finished 15th in the standings last season and is in 19th so far this season. She said some of the negativity has gone away and vowed to never change who she is or how she promotes herself on social media.
“I will always have my hair bleached, I’ll have my fake nails, but yet I can still be a bada– driver. I don’t wanna be put into certain categories. I still can take care of myself and look ‘glamorous’ and girly, but still be quick on the track,” Brewer added.


Lindsay Brewer attends the premiere of Sony Pictures’ “Bloodshot” on March 10, 2020, in Los Angeles. (Phillip Faraone/FilmMagic)
Brewer had two top 10 finishes last season – at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and a street race in Toronto.
Brewer’s had a tough season this year, mostly finishing in the bottom half of the standings.





Media
Causal association found between evening social media use and delayed sleep – Medical Xpress


A team of psychiatrists from Duke University and Yale University has found what they describe as a causal association between evening social media use and delayed sleep. In their study, reported in the journal Sleep Medicine, the group tracked social media use and delayed sleeping patterns for 44,000 Reddit users.
Prior research has shown that exposure to blue light, such as that emitted from phones and tablet computers, can lead to sleep problems because it interferes with production of melatonin. In this new effort, the researchers have found that posting to a social media site prior to normal bedtime may delay the time that people go to sleep.
The team wondered whether social media posting might be interfering with people’s normal sleep patterns, especially in the evening hours. To find out, they conducted an exhaustive analysis of data on the social media site Reddit. As with other social media sites, users on Reddit can post comments or links to content and comment on what others have posted.
In all, the research team analyzed 120 million posts made by 44,000 users on the site over a period of 15 years. They were able to establish what they described as normal bedtimes for frequent users of the site, which enabled them to measure the impact of social media posting prior to a normal bedtime.
The researchers found that if a user posted to the site approximately one hour before their normal bedtime, they were much more likely to stay up past their normal bedtime—on average, they were still awake after posting, from one to three hours after they normally went to sleep. And if they posted multiple times before their normal bedtime, they stayed up even later.
The researchers suggest that a rise in dopamine levels due to anticipation of a response from other users on the site could make it difficult for posters to relax and go to sleep. Prior research has shown that a rise in dopamine levels contributes to mental activity and alertness, neither of which is conducive to going to sleep.
More information:
William U. Meyerson et al, The association between evening social media use and delayed sleep may be causal: Suggestive evidence from 120 million Reddit timestamps, Sleep Medicine (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.sleep.2023.04.021
© 2023 Science X Network
Citation:
Causal association found between evening social media use and delayed sleep (2023, May 26)
retrieved 28 May 2023
from https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-05-causal-association-evening-social-media.html
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