Layoffs, Mergers and Labor News: Media News Recap for January

Welcome to Media Insider, PR Newswire’s roundup of media news stories from the month.

January kicked off the new year with a wave of shakeups across the media industry. Layoffs continued to hit major newsrooms, underscoring ongoing financial pressures, while union activity remained in the spotlight. Mergers and strategic partnerships signaled shifting priorities as companies positioned themselves for the year ahead. Meanwhile, a new industry study challenged assumptions about local media, suggesting it may be more resilient than expected.

Let’s dive into this month’s top stories.

Around 4,000 Journalism Job Cuts Made in UK and US in 2024

Job cuts in the UK and US journalism industries fell by half in 2024 compared to the previous year, according to a Press Gazette analysis.

At least 3,875 redundancies and layoffs were reported across newspaper, broadcast and digital media businesses in 2024, down from the 8,000 journalism job cuts recorded in the UK and North America in 2023.

The biggest share (1,576) of the 2024 job cuts came in the first quarter of the year, before things slowed down in Q2 (300 cuts) and then picked up again in each of Q3 (887) and Q4 (1,112).

At least three-quarters of the job losses occurred in the US last year. (Press Gazette)

The layoffs continued into 2025, with the following cuts announced in January:

• The Washington Post laid off 4% of its workforce. (New York Times)
• The Wall Street Journal announced plans to restructure its D.C. bureau, including layoffs. (Axios)
• Dotdash Meredith cut 143 staffers across multiple departments. (MediaPost)
• CNN laid off roughly 200 employees, about 6% of its workforce. (Wall Street Journal)
• HuffPost cut 30 jobs, or 22% of its staff. (MediaPost)
• This American Life is facing rare staff cuts. (Semafor)
• Vox and Meta joined the list of media companies reducing staff. (MediaPost)
• Chicago Sun-Times offered voluntary buyouts from the newsroom. (Sun-Times)
• Newspaper publisher CNHI implemented unpaid furloughs for 3% of staff. (MediaPost)
• SiriusXM announced layoffs as part of cost-cutting efforts. (Inside Radio)

ABC News Agrees to AI Protections for Writers in Latest Contract

Unionized writers at ABC News have secured new protections governing the use of generative AI in the workplace.

Staffers who belong to the Writers Guild of America East have voted to ratify a contract that offers some employment safeguards if the newsroom adopts the technology. That includes an agreement that the company will not lay off current staff employees due to the use of generative AI.

The new three-year contract also requires management to give union members advance notice if the company plans to make the use of generative AI systems a requirement of their jobs. The company will be obliged to negotiate any impact of the technology with the union and meet with the labor group semi-annually to review its employment of the technology.

The ABC News Union called the AI protections “groundbreaking” and praised the contract’s broader improvements to employee benefits. (Hollywood Reporter)

More news on the labor front:

• The New Republic staff unanimously ratified a new three-year contract with layoff protections and a higher salary floor. (MediaPost)
• The New York Times declined to recognize The Athletic as part of the NewsGuild of NY union. (Sports Business Journal)
• Daily Mail US ramped up hiring, adding several experienced journalists. (MediaPost)

Getty Images and Shutterstock to Merge to Form $3.7B Stock Photo Giant

Getty Images has agreed to merge with its rival Shutterstock in a cash-and-stock deal. The combined entity is expected to be valued at $3.7 billion.

Both companies offer stock photos and video footage that can be licensed and reused. This content is commonly used by news organizations, film and documentary makers, ad agencies, marketing firms, and more.

Getty Images is the bigger company of the two, and its shareholders will own approximately 54.7% of the new entity, while Shutterstock shareholders will own 45.3%. Getty Images also owns the iStock and Unsplash brands. The company will simply be called Getty Images.

The move comes at a crucial time, as AI is shaking things up for the stock image industry. AI represents both an opportunity and a threat, as Getty Images can choose to license its content to AI companies so that they can train their next-generation models. (TechCrunch)

Other notable acquisitions and partnerships announced this month include:

• Boston Globe Media acquired Boston Magazine, adding to its regional portfolio. (Boston.com)
• New York Times is exploring U.S. subscription bundle partnerships. (Axios)
• OpenAI is funding four new Axios newsrooms, with plans to invest in 100 new locations. (MediaPost)
• Reuters and Gannett are joining forces to launch a new content bundle. (Axios)
• iHeartMedia and the NFL extended their podcast partnership. (MediaPost)
• Carpenter Media Group acquired the assets of Salem Publishing Company. (MediaPost)

Local Media Did Well In 2024, Expect Better In 2025

Local media may not be faring as badly as some observers think.

According to the Local Media Consortium’s Local Media Insights report, 45% of surveyed media professionals saw an increase in digital revenue in 2024, while 30% reported flat revenue and 16% saw a decline.

Advertising revenue from display banner ads, video, audio and newsletters grew 41%, while 25% of respondents indicated it was flat. And 46% saw an increase in consumer revenue, including website and newsletter subscriptions and donations, while 29% experienced flat growth.

Looking forward, the LMC forecasts an increase in 2025 digital revenue led by an uptick in consumer and advertising revenue associated with the continued maturation of video-focused efforts, subscriptions and newsletter engagement strategies. (MediaPost)

Additional insights on media trends:

• The local media industry is optimistic about digital growth in 2025. (TV Tech)
• Newspaper readers make good podcast listeners. (MediaPost)
• Paywalls lead to softer content and less local reporting. (MediaPost)

Washington Post’s Traffic Tanks

Washington Post subscribers quit the paper en masse following owner Jeff Bezos’ decision last fall to withhold its endorsement of outgoing Vice President Kamala Harris. But the Post’s audience problems extend beyond angry former subscribers.

Over the last four years, web traffic has cratered. According to internal data, the Post’s regular daily traffic last year sunk to less than a quarter of what it was at its peak in January 2021. That month, the Post briefly reached a high of around 22.5 million daily active users. By the middle of 2024, its daily users hovered around 2.5-3 million daily users.

Last year, Washington City Paper noted that the Post had stopped publicly disclosing its traffic numbers in press releases, after a 60% decline in monthly traffic. The Wall Street Journal reported that the Post’s revenue fell from $190 million in 2023 to $174 million last year. (Semafor)

More industry updates you might have missed:

• The Athletic is launching a sports business newsletter. (Talking Biz News)
• The Bulwark bulked up its newsletters. (Semafor)
• Conde Nast brought Vogue Arabia and GQ Middle East in-house. (MediaPost)
• The Ankler is launching a standalone trade publication on the creator economy. (Axios)
• Conservative columnist Jen Rubin left the Washington Post to start a new blog. (TheWrap)
• Scholastic suffered a cyberattack, exposing data on 8 million subscribers. (MediaPost)

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