The Daily Beast is gutting its senior editorial team after implementing voluntary buyouts last month, with nearly 70% of unionized staffers leaving the outlet, TheWrap has learned.
The senior staffers taking buyouts include media reporter Justin Baragona, political investigations reporter Jose Pagliery, senior national reporter Pilar Melendez, senior reporter Emily Shugerman, and more, according to an individual with knowledge of the situation. Twenty-five unionized staffers took the buyouts, equivalent to nearly 70% of the guild, including almost all of the outlet’s senior staffers.
Additionally, non-union editorial staffers are expecting another round of layoffs at the end of the month.
“We’re currently watching the collapse of The Beast,” the individual told TheWrap. “There is no doubt the site won’t be able to recover from this.”
“Whatever IAC executive signed off on the business plan that involved turning The Beast into a right-wing tabloid should be sent back to Wharton,” the individual continued, referencing a group of top IAC executives that all went to the prestigious business school. “One of the first lessons of any company: Don’t alienate your core customer and pi-s them off so much they begin to call for a boycott against your firm.”
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/70-unionized-daily-beast-staffers-195856254.html