(Jacob Bruns, Headline USA) Left-leaning news site Axios announced this week that it was planning to cut roughly 10% of its staff in the latest round of corporate media layoffs, the New York Post reported.
Axios Chief Executive Jim VandeHei announced in an email Tuesday that the company would cut 50 positions in what he called a “difficult moment.” Axios currently employs around 500 people.
NEW: Axios is laying off 50 people across the company. CEO @JimVandeHei just sent out this note — which says the layoffs are because of “changes in the media business” pic.twitter.com/lLVemNFh0N
— Katie Robertson (@katie_robertson) August 6, 2024
“We’re making some difficult changes to adapt fast to a rapidly changing media landscape,” VandeHei wrote, citing the proliferation of artificial intelligence, along with changing reader habits.
“We’re eliminating about 50 positions to get ahead of tectonic shifts in the media, technology and reader needs/ habits,” he continued. “This is a painful but necessary move to tighten our strategic focus and shift investment to our core growth areas.”
According to VandeHei, the reorganization is necessary as a response to the media climate, and does not reflect any failure on the part of Axios employees.
“This isn’t a reflection on anyone’s work—it’s because of changes in the media business,” he said. “If you’re understandably upset by the decision, please direct your frustration at me.”
VandeHei was one of the co-founders of Politico before undertaking the new venture alongside charter Politico columnist Mike Allen. Both companies have been innovative in their revenue streams, relying on online and print advertising, as well as subscription-based content and newsletters.
However, much of the mainstream media has seen its credibility sullied by recent scandals—including, most recently, the cover-up of President Joe Biden’s cognitive decline and overt cheerleading or collusion on behalf of Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign.
That has led some truth-seekers to look to other sources for reliable information instead of relying upon political insiders who may have been infiltrated as part of the CIA’s Operation Mockingbird.
In a rare move early in his term, Biden dismissed White House communications staffer TJ Ducklo for making threats against a Politico reporter who was investigating his relationship with Axios reporter Alexi McCammond.
The report of Axios’s layoffs comes on the heels of another round of firings at CNN, which cut 100 jobs last month.
“Today is a tough one,” he concluded in an attempt to ease the blow of the mass layoffs.
In a memo to CNN staffers, network CEO Mark Thompson wrote that CNN, “a great news organization,” must be turned toward the digital future.
“Today’s announcements do not answer every question or seek to solve every challenge we face,” Thompson added. “However, they do represent a significant step forward and I hope you will read about them in that spirit.”
On top of that, NBC announced in January of this year that it would be laying off dozens of employees in an attempt to trim down overhead.
