The Huffington Post cut down its commentary and healthcare teams Thursday.
“As of this morning, HuffPost’s opinion section is no more. I and the rest of the team have been let go,” the former head of the opinion section at Huffington Post, Bryan Maygers, tweeted.
Hi all. So some sad news. As of this morning, HuffPost’s opinion section is no more. I and the rest of the team have been let go.
— Bryan Maygers (@bmaygers) January 24, 2019
“I spent the last few years reporting on two of the most pressing issues in public health — gun violence and the opioid crisis — and today @HuffPost eliminated its health team,” former senior public health reporter at Huffington Post, Erin Schumaker, posted to Twitter Thursday, adding that she was in the market for a new job.
I spent the last few years reporting on two of the most pressing issues in public health — gun violence and the opioid crisis — and today @HuffPost eliminated its health team. If you’re looking for a creative storyteller with deep sourcing, hire me: [email protected]
— Erin Schumaker (@erinlschumaker) January 24, 2019
According to Washington Post media reporter Eric Wemple, the website’s cutbacks “fell hard” on Huffington Post’s health podcast operation, but not healthcare policy, and opinion podcasts.
The site’s cutbacks fell hard on the health (not health-care policy) pod and the opinions pod, which have been eliminated. That’s because of an editorial decision that HuffPost couldn’t compete and win in these areas, according to a source.
— ErikWemple (@ErikWemple) January 24, 2019
The cutbacks at Huffington Post come just a day after Verizon Communications, a telecommunications corporation that includes AOL, Yahoo, and Huffington Post, said Wednesday it would be cutting around 7 percent of its digital media operations.
“Our goal is to create the best experiences for our consumers and the best platforms for our customers. Today marks a strategic step toward better execution of our plans for growth and innovation into the future,” a spokesperson for Verizon told the Washington Examiner in a statement.
In shuttering its opinion and healthcare sections, a Huffington Post spokesperson said the media outlet is looking to invest in areas that have higher audience engagement.
“HuffPost is investing its talents and resources to areas that have high audience engagement, differentiation and are poised for growth at a time when our mission means more than ever,” the spokesperson said in a statement to the Washington Examiner.
Other media outlets, such as BuzzFeed and Gannett, are also dealing with cutbacks and layoffs this week.
On Wednesday, the Washington Post reported that BuzzFeed was planning on firing 15 percent of its staff — about 250 employees — in an effort to increase profit margins.
The outlet recently came under fire for reporting that President Trump directed his former lawyer Michael Cohen to lie to Congress. Special counsel Robert Mueller’s office issued a statement that pushed back on the article, claiming that it was “not accurate.”
Gannett, which owns USA Today, laid off journalists from some of its newspapers across the country.
