Mashable Announces Layoffs, Scraps World News and Politics Coverage

Posted on April 7, 2016

Mashable has announced a round of layoffs. The site has been covering a wide range of topics, including general news. The site will now be focused more on topics like technology, web culture and social media. When Mashable first started it was more of a technology blog with a focus on the emergence of social media. It later expanded to cover general news and popular mainstream topics.

The layoffs are a surprise because they follow a $15 million funding round. Mashable founder Pete Cashmore shared the news on LinkedIn. He posted a note he sent out to the Mashable team.

Today we must part ways with some of our colleagues in order to focus our efforts. Everyone affected by these changes has already been notified.
We are certain this is the right direction for Mashable. But that doesn't make it any less difficult to say goodbye to our friends and teammates. Mashable is a very close-knit family and I value the contributions of each and every member. Every one of these people has made an indelible impact on our company and our lives. They have earned our respect and our friendship, and we are very fortunate to have worked alongside them. We will miss them and we will offer services to help them transition into new roles.

Among those departing include Jim Roberts and Seth Rogin. AdWeek reports that employees involved in world news and politics are among those leaving Mashable as the site is scrapping this coverage.

The New York Times reports that Cashmore sees world news and politics as "declining in significance." That is not the case here in the U.S. with politics news nearing its peak as the presidential election looms.

Mashable senior producer Nadja Oertelt shared that news that she had been fired on her Twitter account, @nadjao. She says half the editorial staff at the company was also fired and said "This is what happens when bros run media."

Interesting that all the people they fired were intelligent, skilled journalists and producers. This is what happens when bros run media.
— nadja oertelt (@nadjao) April 7, 2016

Re/code reports that a Mashable rep tells them Oertelt's tweet about half the editorial staff being fired is not accurate. Re/code says she "was probably using hyperbole."