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☆ BuzzFeed Sells Complex, a Pop Culture Start-Up, for $108.6 Million
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-21 | by ( Benjamin Mullin | More About Benjamin Mullin | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

BuzzFeed said on Wednesday that it was selling Complex — a media start-up known for its coverage of streetwear and pop culture — at a significant discount from its purchase price. The buyer is Ntwrk, an e-commerce company backed by LiveNation Entertainment and Main Street Advisors, which is paying $108.6 million for the company. It is also paying BuzzFeed $5.7 million to cover severance expenses of Complex employees whom BuzzFeed is laying off, along with other costs. BuzzFeed is not selling First We Feast, the internet brand associated with Complex behind the popular “Hot Ones” interview series about hot wings. Jonah Peretti, BuzzFeed’s co-founder and chief executive, said in a statement that selling Complex was “an important strategic step” for the company.

Persons: BuzzFeed, Jonah Peretti, BuzzFeed’s Organizations: LiveNation Entertainment, Main Street Advisors

☆ BuzzFeed sells Complex Networks for less than half of what it paid and slashes 16% of staff
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-21 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

“This is also an opportunity to unlock greater value for the Complex brand by combining it with NTWRK’s expansive, commerce-driven business.”The uniting of NTWRK and Complex is, indeed, something of a natural marriage. NTWRK serves as a marketplace for many of the items that Complex covers, such as sneakers. BuzzFeed has been something of an avatar for such struggles among digital publishers. In April, BuzzFeed shut down BuzzFeed News, its award-winning news division that once boasted hundreds of employees and bureaus around the world. Reuters reported last week that The Independent is in talks to take control of the company’s UK operations.

Persons: BuzzFeed, Jonah Peretti, ”, Peretti, NTWRK, ” Peretti, Jimmy Iovine, Goldman Sachs, TikTok Organizations: New, New York CNN, Networks, Digital, New York Times, CNN, Reuters, ”, Universal Music Group, Main Street Advisors, Universal Locations: New York

☆ Opinion | Are These Recipes Good, or Is the TikTok Chef Just Good-Looking?
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-03 | by ( Jessica Grose | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

I follow a lot of cooking accounts on TikTok and Instagram, which means that I get served ever more cooking content, and over the past few years, I’ve noticed a stylistic change. But lately, more and more of the cooking video creators appear as their full selves, and most of them are blandly attractive. I don’t know about you, but I don’t need a chef to tell me that a ham and cheese sandwich tastes good. It’s reached the point where I can’t tell: Are these recipes good, or are the people leading me through them just good-looking in a way that’s rewarded by social media algorithms? But it made me wonder whether the “beauty premium” — something that economists have observed over many years — is greater now that individuals with all different levels of expertise can get a career boost from having a robust social media presence.

Persons: I’ve, BuzzFeed’s, speck, burrata, It’s, ”, Vox’s Rebecca Jennings, “

☆ BuzzFeed in Advanced Talks to Sell Complex, Backtracking on Digital Media Bet
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-27 | by ( Benjamin Mullin | More About Benjamin Mullin | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

BuzzFeed is in advanced talks to sell Complex Networks, the streetwise digital media company behind the popular ComplexCon cultural festival, at less than half the price it paid for the company two years ago, a sign of the industrywide troubles afflicting digital media. BuzzFeed paid about $300 million for Complex in 2021. Buzzfeed is planning to keep First We Feast, the division of Complex responsible for the popular “Hot Ones” interview franchise, after the transaction, one of the people said. When BuzzFeed went public two years ago, it made Complex a centerpiece of its pitch to investors. Complex was reliably profitable, a milestone that had eluded many in the digital media industry, and its portfolio of brands seemed a natural fit for BuzzFeed’s focus on young audiences.

Persons: BuzzFeed, Buzzfeed Organizations: Networks, LiveNation Entertainment, Main Street Advisors, YouTube

☆ 2023 layoff tracker: The latest on which companies have announced job cuts
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( Jennifer Korn | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +20 min

New York CNN —BuzzFeed, Lyft, Whole Foods and Deloitte all recently announced layoffs affecting thousands of US workers. With 11,000 job cuts announced in November and the 10,000 announced in March, Meta’s headcount will fall to around 66,000 — a total reduction of about 25%. The company announced in January that it was eliminating some 18,000 positions as part of a major cost-cutting bid at the e-commerce giant. IndeedJob listing website Indeed.com announced cuts of approximately 2,200 employees, representing almost 15% of its total workforce, the company said in March. The cuts come after the company announced several rounds of job cuts throughout the pandemic due to falling demand, followed by rapid hiring last year.

☆ The demise of BuzzFeed News marks the end of an era for digital media
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

BuzzFeed News, the digital news outlet that harnessed the power of social media to take the internet by storm, is shuttering. Back then, BuzzFeed was the envy of media and its employees the cool kids of the industry. Lists and quizzes saturated social media feeds and dominated the internet. As the dinosaurs of the social media era get their lunch eaten by newcomers such as TikTok, so are the outlets that previously wielded those same platforms as their superpowers. BuzzFeed News gave BuzzFeed writ large prestige that the other content companies of the bygone era (ViralNova, Distractify, etc.)

The reason this news pioneer is closingBuzzFeed’s decision to shut its news division — an innovator in digital journalism that published both prizewinning investigations and listicles designed to get clicks — drew many bittersweet tributes online. But its closure is the latest reminder that digital media start-ups, which deep-pocketed investors once valued at astronomical sums, are facing headwinds. With even tech giants struggling to navigate hurdles like a declining advertising market, smaller companies are facing potentially existential crises. BuzzFeed and its peers have also suffered from the same drop-off in online ads that is forcing sharp job cuts at Alphabet, Meta and others. BuzzFeed used one to list on the Nasdaq in late 2021 — and ended up raising just $16 million, far short of the $250 million it could have collected.

☆ BuzzFeed News will shut down
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

New York CNN —BuzzFeed News, the Pulitzer Prize-winning digital news website that that took the internet by storm roughly a decade ago and inspired jealousy from legacy media organizations, will shutter, BuzzFeed chief executive Jonah Peretti announced Thursday. “While layoffs are occurring across nearly every division, we’ve determined that the company can no longer continue to fund BuzzFeed News as a standalone organization,” Peretti told staffers. BuzzFeed has “begun discussions with the News Guild,” the union which represents staffers at the company, about the actions. “HuffPost and BuzzFeed Dot Com have signaled that they will open a number of select roles for members of BuzzFeed News,” Peretti told employees. The news that BuzzFeed News will shutter prompted an outpouring of messages posted online from former BuzzFeed News staffers who expressed sadness and dismay.

☆ BuzzFeed Shuts Down Its Namesake News Division
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Benjamin Mullin | Katie Robertson | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

BuzzFeed is shutting down its namesake news division, which won acclaim for its journalism but fell prey to the punishing economics of digital publishing that has laid low many of its peers. Jonah Peretti, BuzzFeed’s chief executive, said in an email to employees on Thursday that he was closing BuzzFeed News as part of a broader round of cuts at the company. About 60 people will be affected by the shuttering of the news division, some of whom will be offered jobs at other parts of the company. BuzzFeed’s decision is the latest in a series of financial setbacks faced by digital media companies. The media industry writ large has pivoted to focus on streaming, and digital advertising — a mainstay for digital publishing companies — is increasingly going to tech platforms such as Instagram and TikTok.

☆ BuzzFeed’s CEO says AI could usher in a ‘new model for digital media,’ but warns against a ‘dystopian’ path
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

“I think that there are two paths for AI in digital media,” Peretti said. But, with AI, the staffer could write the questions and the software could spit out a highly personalized response for the user. In the supplied example, a user would take a quick quiz and the AI would write a short RomCom using the data provided. “There’s the CNET path, and then there is the path that BuzzFeed is focused on,” Peretti said. “I think the content farm model of AI will feel very depressing and dystopian.”

☆ BuzzFeed says it will use AI to help create content, stock jumps 150%
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

BuzzFeed, for now, will not use artificial intelligence to help write news stories, a spokesperson told CNN. Media industry leaders have increasingly said that artificial intelligence will revolutionize their businesses. CNET recently used an artificial intelligence tool to help write stories. But, Guglielmo said, the outlet will not shy away from using artificial intelligence moving forward. The Associated Press also began using artificial intelligence to automate news stories nearly a decade ago.

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