Layoffs hit CNET as its parent company goes on a buying spree

Ziff Davis, the media conglomerate that owns outlets similar CNET, ZDNet, PCMag, and Mashable is laying disconnected 15 percent of its unionized workforce, for a full of 23 people.

The bulk of layoffs are coming from CNET, wherever 19 radical volition suffer their jobs — adjacent arsenic Ziff Davis goes connected a buying spree. The layoffs volition deed CNET coverage areas similar the finance, broadband, and slumber beats, arsenic good arsenic the outlet’s transcript desk. A fistful of staffers crossed Lifehacker, Mashable, and ZDNet volition besides beryllium laid off.

“It’s precise wide to america that these cuts aren’t astir journalism,” Anna Iovine, portion seat of the Ziff Davis Creators Guild, says. “They’re based connected wealth and greed.” Iovine noted peculiar concerns astir cutting transcript editors and information checkers.

“Eliminating immoderate sum is truly devastating. These journalists, immoderate of them person decades of experience, and we’re losing [that],” Iovine says.

Ziff Davis has acquired 5 different companies this twelvemonth alone, astir notably regular quality outlet TheSkimm and wellness outlet Well+Good. CNET was acquired by Ziff Davis successful 2024 for $100 million. Ziff Davis did not instantly respond to a petition for comment.

CNET has had a tumultuous past fewer years nether its erstwhile owner, Red Ventures. In 2023, the outlet was engulfed successful contention erstwhile readers discovered that it had been quietly publishing stories written by AI that were full of errors. In the ensuing weeks and months, CNET staff were laid off, editor-in-chief Connie Guglielmo stepped down to instrumentality a occupation overseeing AI content, and staff astatine the outlet unionized. After Red Ventures sold CNET, the national was rolled into the Ziff Davis Creators Guild, which is represented by the NewsGuild of New York.

“At a clip erstwhile CNET is inactive gathering backmost its estimation aft a damaging AI ungraded nether Red Ventures, Ziff’s determination to further undermine CNET’s quality authorization is disturbing,” a connection from the bargaining portion reads.

“Our members are truthful overmuch much than dollars and cents, adjacent arsenic the capricious absorption astatine Ziff Davis tries to dainty america arsenic such,” the connection continues. “We won a beardown corporate bargaining statement conscionable implicit a twelvemonth ago, and we volition combat to enforce it truthful we tin sphere our quality to proceed producing high-quality enactment for our readers.”