It’s not just the technology and healthcare sectors getting hit by layoffs to start 2024. The media industry is continuing to see the kind of down-sizing that hit the sector hard last year. News companies in particular are being pared down, once again raising concerns about the future of journalism.
The US media sector shed about 840 jobs in January. While that’s not a lot in the grand scheme of the American economy, it’s about 11% higher than the number of layoffs over the same period last year. The news sub-sector of the media industry — which includes digital, broadcast and print journalism — has been hit especially hard. Job cuts at news companies in January surged a staggering 1,660% from December 2023, and they made up the majority of all layoffs in the media world.
What this means for the future of media
The short answer: No one knows.
The media industry’s decades-long decline accelerated last year, when more than 20,000 jobs were eliminated — the highest on record other than 2020 (the pandemic) and 2009 (the Great Recession).
Outlooks on the future of journalism have been grim and grimmer, with no clear solution as to what will “save” journalism and media. And this year is no exception.
A timeline of 2024 media layoffs
The cuts started early in the year when The Messenger, a splashy news startup with a big budget and even bigger aspirations, laid off a slim fraction of its editorial staff. (One of the reporters who wrote this article was impacted by The Messenger layoffs.) NBC News, Sports Illustrated, and the Los Angeles Times followed in short order with more drastic cuts.
The Messenger eventually shut down completely, affecting 300 employees. The $50 million that funded the news site could have supported 1,500 local journalism jobs, The Guardian reported.
More recently in February, Warner Music Group and Paramount Global made headlines as they trimmed their staff.
🧊 January
Jan. 2: The Messenger, a digital news start-up founded by millionaire Jimmy Finkelstein, laid off about 24 employees as the company was reportedly running out of cash.
Jan. 10: Amazon said it was laying off hundreds of employees of Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios.
Jan.12: NBC News and MSNBC laid off roughly 75 employees.
Jan. 19: Sports Illustrated was hit with a mass layoff after its publisher lost the license to operate the iconic brand. Its unclear how much of the publication’s roughly 100 employees were let go.
Jan 23: The Los Angeles Times announced it was laying off over 115 people from its newsroom. Time laid off about 30 employees, or about 15% of its unionized staff. National Geographic lets go of all staff writers, representing 17 people. The same day, 400 Condé Nast held a one-day walkout over planned layoffs announced last year.
Jan. 25: Business Insider CEO Barbara Peng said in an internal note that the that the financial and business news site is cutting 8% of its workforce. Forbes announced it was planning to reduce its workforce by 3%.
Jan. 30: TechCrunch laid off about eight employees as the tech-industry publication ended its subscriptions service.
Jan. 31: The Messenger announced it was shutting down eight months after its launch, affecting 300 employees.
💔 February
Feb. 1: The Wall Street Journal laid off about 20 staffers from its Washington DC bureau.
Feb. 7: Warner Music Group said it was laying off about 600 employees.
Feb. 12: SiriusXM announced it was reducing headcount by 475 roles, or 8%.
Feb. 13: Paramount Global announced it was laying off 800 people, about 3% of its workforce. Roughly 20 people from CBS News were let go as part of the cuts.