LGBTQ+ publisher Pink News has proposed a second round of job cuts this year, attributed to changes at social platform Snapchat.
Press Gazette understands Pink News has proposed to make nine to 11 of its 25 staff redundant, initially under a voluntary redundancy scheme.
Snapchat owner Snap Inc is changing the way publishers distribute and monetise content on the platform, ending its Shows and Publisher Stories formats and moving publishers including Pink News to Public Profiles.
Pink News has been publishing Shows since 2018 when it was the first LGBTQ+ publisher globally on Snapchat Discover, where it saw potential to reach a younger audience.
Pink News, which has 2.8 million followers on its main Snapchat account, expects its Snap revenue to fall by 80-90% or more as a result, according to a document sent to staff and seen by Press Gazette. This is a large majority of the publisher’s overall revenue.
Staff were given a list of proposed positions in the new structure that would total 14 to 16 staff members. This would include three to four multimedia journalists and a further three to four senior multimedia journalists.
The outlet is also closing its office in London in November, meaning its remaining team will work remotely.
It follows layoffs of up to four staff in March when the publisher announced plans to move away from a “reporter-led” newsroom while continuing to publish news, entertainment and pop culture content across text, video and social.
A Pink News spokesperson told Press Gazette: “Snapchat is retiring its Shows and Publisher Stories format as part of a broader change to publisher and broadcaster distribution and monetisation. Many major publishers have already transitioned; as one of the platform’s larger publishers, we’re now realigning our business to the new model.
“We have proposed a smaller structure and opened an enhanced voluntary redundancy scheme across the team, with supporting colleagues our immediate priority. Pink News continues to publish as normal, while longer term we’re building a more diversified media and technology business with a broader mix of revenue streams.”
Snap revenue ‘strong’ before platform changes
One well-placed source, who asked to remain anonymous, told Press Gazette: “It’s very sad these changes are happening so suddenly. Our Snap revenue has been very strong in recent months, but management have known this change is coming and could have made plans to mitigate the effects long before now, literally the day our Snap profiles were changed from publisher profiles to public profiles.
“Everyone in the team is in shock and trying to decide on next steps before the end of the week.”
Under the voluntary redundancy scheme, those with at least two years’ service are entitled to statutory redundancy pay, while those with less will receive a £1,400 one-off payment.
The deadline to apply for voluntary redundancy is Monday (24 August). Compulsory redundancies could follow if the proposed redundancy numbers are not met.
Pink News staff were told its new in-house editorial and social platform Quill will “condense work that previously took hours into minutes”, freeing them up to focus on original stories and securing interviews. Quill generates platform-ready drafts and schedules and posts social media content.
The company told staff it had otherwise delivered one of its “strongest financial performances in years” and had removed more than £1m in costs over the past 12 months including across freelance support, software and subscriptions.
In 2024, the latest figures available on Companies House, Pink News made a profit of £1.7m (up from £1.5m in 2023 but down from £3.1m in 2022).
Separately, this month Pink News has been sued by Tiktok content creator Dejah Francisco-Pedro for copyright infringement. Francisco-Pedro has claimed the publisher recorded and published her content on its Snapchat Discover channels without consent and she is seeking $63,000 in unpaid licensing fees, citing deliberate commercial exploitation of her creative work.
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