Questionable social media news sites appear to be falling apart with Vice Media, a one-time digital journalism sensation deciding to quit publishing stories.
The Company that already been bankrupt before is again struggling to survive. Also in trouble is Buzzfeed who overnight announced that they are slashing 16% of its workforce.
Both sites in their heyday were popular in Australia, however Deloitte Australia research shows that over 70% of consumers today don’t trust social media news labelling it ‘Fake News” and that includes 18 -26-year-olds who in the past visited these sites.
Several global social media news sites are now financially strapped with Buzzfeed also forced to sell down their music and culture-focused site Complex.
In their latest variation of a service Vice is transitioning to a studio model, distributing its content, including news, on other media platforms, this is despite consumers switching off their idea of news.
“It is no longer cost-effective for us to distribute our digital content the way we have done previously,” Chief Executive Officer Bruce Dixon said in a memo to staff.
HuffPost parent company Buzzfeed that was once an advertising revenue juggernaut is desperately trying to become more agile, sustainable, and profitable” despite being dumped by advertisers because they failed to get a return on invest.
“The next problem is that consumers dumped their news streams because of the quality of their content” said one observer.
Buzzfeed has declined to comment on the total number of cuts or the sale of their Complex operation.
The Company said that they expect annualized cost savings of $23 million under the plan.
Last year, Buzzfeed also shutdown Buzzfeed News because of a lack of visitors to their site.
