Go Woke, Go Broke: Another Woke News Outlet Joins Vice, Forced To Close Its Doors After Massive Layoffs From Parent Company

On Tuesday, MTV announced in a memo it would be shutting down its news division following mass layoffs from its parent company, Paramount Global.

Per a report by Variety, the news section of the company already faced notable layoffs more than a year ago, but will now be entirely axed. Other units within the company, though mainly operations, will also be shutting down. 

A memo was given to staff from company president Chris McCarthy that said despite the “success in streaming, we continue to feel pressure from broader economic headwinds like many of our peers,” continuing that “senior leaders in coordination with HR have been working together over the past few months to determine the optimal organization for the current and future needs of our business.”

McCarthy then goes on, stating “As a result, we have made the very hard but necessary decision to reduce our domestic team by approximately 25%. This is a tough yet important strategic realignment for our group. Through the elimination of some units and by streamlining others, we will be able to reduce costs and create a more effective approach to our business as we move forward. Today we will notify employees whose positions are being impacted with leaders communicating the news directly to those teams/or individuals. These meetings will be followed by individual 1:1s with our HR partners.”

MTV will still have other operations, such as its television channel and its shows featured on Paramount+. 

These cuts come only four months after Showtime, another company within Paramount Global, laid off 120 during its merger with MTV Entertainment Studios. 

MTV becomes another of the latest media groups that have to face notable downsizing. Companies like Buzzfeed recently cut their entire news department as well to accommodate changing times, as previously reported on by the DC Enquirer. 

The entertainment industry as a whole has seen notable staff slashings, with even notable giants such as Disney, Meta, and Amazon having to reduce their total staff numbers this year. 

As entertainment continues to transition towards streaming services and purely online media, companies' needs and expectations continue to evolve and grow. Some companies will fall behind, like those of MTV and Buzzfeed, but ultimately others will end up rising to take their place in the overall media landscape.