2023 Media Layoffs: MTV News Shutting Down As Paramount Media Networks Cuts 25% Of Staff

Forbes Business Breaking 2023 Media Layoffs: MTV News Shutting Down As Paramount Media Networks Cuts 25% Of Staff Emily Washburn Forbes Staff I’m a reporter for Forbes’ explainers and trends team. Ty Roush Forbes Staff I cover breaking news. May 9, 2023, 04:15pm EDT | Press play to listen to this article! Got it! Updated May 9, 2023, 04:30pm EDT Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Topline MTV News—MTV’s news division that launched in the 1980s—is shutting down amid layoffs by Paramount Media Networks, according to a company memo obtained by Variety on Tuesday, the latest in a brutal series of closures and layoffs rocking the media industry in 2023.

News organizations have been decreasing the amount of newspapers in print. (Photo by Justin . .

. [+] Sullivan/Getty Images) Getty Images Timeline May 9 The shutdown of MTV News comes as Paramount Media Networks—a division of Paramount Global—announced it would cut 25% of its staff because of “pressure from broader headwinds like many of our peers,” according to a company memo obtained by Variety. April 27 Vice Media will lay off more than 100 of its roughly 1,500 employees and shut down its Vice World News brand, sources familiar with the matter told the Wall Street Journal , following years of financial challenges for the once-ascendant media company.

April 24 ESPN president Jimmy Pitaro announced in a memo the sports news network would begin cutting an unspecified number of employees, though the layoffs will primarily affect management positions, according to the Sports Business Journal , including communications vice president Mike Soltys and Russell Wolff , who oversaw the ESPN+ streaming platform. April 20 Buzzfeed CEO Jonah Peretti told Buzzfeed News staff the online publication would be shut down, according to a 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. ” April 20 Insider 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 . March 30 Disney’s broadcast news division 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. March 30 Spotify laid off an estimated 15 employees from its product insight team, according to Bloomberg, after a round of layoffs in January that impacted approximately 600 roles at the company.

March 29 Salem Media Group , a Texas-based Christian radio broadcaster, announced it would lay off about 3% of its 1,436 employees, according to RadioInsight. March 27 The Texas Observer ’s staff of 17, who reportedly heard about the impending layoffs from reporters at the Texas Tribune , asked the Texas Democracy Foundation’s board to reconsider the decision to close the paper and set up an emergency GoFundMe page in a last ditch effort to find funding (the fundraising effort reversed the layoff plan for the time being ). March 23 NPR 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.

March 21 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 management tells Boston public radio. March 19 Sea Coast Media and Gannett, a media conglomerate with hundreds of papers and Sea Coast Media’s parent company, laid 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. February 26 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 Bates told NPR.

February 17 New York public radio station WNYC canceled radio show The Takeaway after 15 years on air after the show reportedly became too expensive to produce amid a declining audience—a reported 12, including host Melissa Harris-Perry, will lose their jobs. February 9 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 Thomson reportedly told investors following compounding declines in profit. January 24 The Washington Post stops 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.

January 23 The marketing trade publication Adweek laid off 14 people, according to employees . January 21 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 Bankoff reportedly tells staff. January 19 Entertainment company and fan platform Fandom laid off less than 50 people at affiliated GameSpot, Giant Bomb, Metacritic and TV Guide, Variety reports , mere months after Fandom acquired the four outlets, among others, for $55 million .

January 13 The Medford, Oregon-based Mail Tribune shut down their digital publication after hiring difficulties and declining advertising sales, according 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 . January 12 NBC News and MSNBC laid off 75 employees as part of a broader corporate reorganization. January 4 Gannett closed a printing press in Greece, New York, as part of an increased focus on online journalism, resulting in the layoffs of 108 people.

January 4 Gannett laid 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. Tangent Nate Silver, founder of Disney-owned FiveThirtyEight , tweeted on April 25 that Disney’s layoffs had “substantially impacted” the data-focused news site, suggesting his contract is up soon and he expects to “be leaving at the end of it. ” Silver—who is best-known for his site’s election predictions—sold FiveThirtyEight to Disney subsidiary ESPN in 2013, after previously working at the New York Times .

Further Reading Texas Observer editors protests layoffs, launch crowdfunding to save the 68-year-old magazine (Texas Tribune) NPR cancels 4 podcasts amid major layoffs (NPR) How To Bounce Back After Being Laid Off — Introducing Layoff Lifeline, A Weeklong Email Series (Forbes) Emily Washburn Ty Roush Editorial Standards Print Reprints & Permissions.