More than 900 jobs have been cut in the journalism industry in the UK and US in January 2025.
Among the most affected media companies in January were: The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Dotdash Meredith, BBC World Service, the Mail titles in the UK, CNN, NBC News and Forbes.
There were a similar number of journalism job cuts in January 2024, although that month was dominated by the closure of short-lived digital news start-up The Messenger resulting in around 300 job losses.
Job cuts also totalled more than 900 in January 2023.
Press Gazette will track journalism industry job cuts in the UK and US throughout 2025 with this regularly updated page.
Elsewhere, Abu Dhabi’s The National laid off 28 journalists, including on its multimedia, digital and foreign desks, at the end of January.
In 2024, according to our analysis, there were around 4,000 journalism industry job losses in the UK and US.
The losses were double that number in 2023 when the industry hit at least 8,000 job cuts.
Journalism job cuts in 2025: Up-to-date list
February 2025 journalism job cuts
UK Climbing – Two people, including the editor-in-chief
4 February: The editor-in-chief of UK Climbing, a specialist news site for hillwalking, climbing and mountaineering, has made its editor-in-chief and web developer redundant.
Outgoing editor Natalie Berry announced her exit on X (formerly Twitter) on Monday and that of her colleague Andrew McOvens the following day. No further information was provided about the departures, and the company did not respond to a Press Gazette query.
UK Climbing Limited, the company which publishes the website, has been an Employee Ownership Trust since February 2025.
Los Angeles Times – Voluntary buyouts
4 February: The Los Angeles Times has opened a voluntary buyout programme for employees of two years or more to help it manage costs.
In a memo shared by Semafor’s Max Tani, staff were told: “While The Times remains a vital source of news and information for our city, region, state and beyond, the economic landscape of the media industry continues to be extremely challenging.
“The difficult financial situation faced by The Times requires us to remain diligent in managing costs. By offering this voluntary buyout program, we aim to provide those of you who may be interested with the flexibility to explore your options.”
Tegna – Unknown number
3 February: US broadcast and digital media company Tegna, which was part of Gannett until it was spun off in 2015, is ending its centralised fact-checking team called Verify with redundancies expected as a result.
A spokesperson told Newscast Studio: “Over the last several years, we’ve learned that the most impactful Verify work we’re doing is at our local stations. We’re going to continue that work. Our top priority is to deliver trustworthy, accurate information to local audiences.”
Newscast Studio said Verify had a team of around 20 journalists and producers. The number of layoffs as a result of its closure was not confirmed.
Verify’s dedicated website now redirects to its Youtube page.
January 2025 journalism job cuts
Sherwood – ‘Small percentage’ of staff
31 January: Sherwood, the media arm of retail trading platform Robinhood, is laying off a “small percentage” of staff.
The business news outlet Sherwood News was launched in April 2024 with around three dozen employees.
A spokesperson told Business Insider: “Over the past 18 months, Sherwood has hired dozens of journalists, launched new products, and acquired the newsletter brand Chartr.
“As we built out our 2025 strategy, we made the decision to streamline team structure.
“Moving forward, Sherwood is focused on expanding its operations around timely, breaking markets news as we build through 2025.”
Forbes – 5% of staff
31 January: Forbes is planning to cut up to 5% of its total workforce, an unspecified number of employees, after missing its financial goals for 2024.
Adweek reported that chief executive Sherry Phillips told staff in a memo: “As a result, we are reprioritising resources and reorganising some areas to further increase efficiency and laser focus on the core strength of our brand. We’ve made the difficult decision to eliminate some roles across the business, which comprise less than 5% of our workforce.”
Mail – Up to 99 roles
30 January: There are expected to be up to 99 job cuts at the Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday and Mail Online as the titles complete their transition to being a digital-first newsroom without duplication across the titles.
A DMG Media spokesperson said: “Today’s announcement represents a new phase in the Mail’s transition with print and online teams coming fully together to create a dynamic digital-first newsroom.
“Of course, job losses are always deeply regrettable. But we firmly believe these latest changes – coupled with our long-term commitment to investing in journalism and razor-sharp focus on delivering for our audience – will position the Mail for an even brighter future.”
Read the full Press Gazette story here.
BBC World Service – Net reduction of 130 roles
29 January: The BBC has announced a net reduction of 130 jobs in the World Service, both in the UK and internationally, as it seeks to make £6m in cost savings in the next year.
The NUJ reported that the BBC plans to reach the target through voluntary redundancies where possible.
BBC Monitoring, which reports and analyses news from around the world, is also affected.
Read the full Press Gazette story here.
Wall Street Journal – Unknown number
29 January: The Wall Street Journal has told staff there will be a “reduction in the number of bureau chiefs who were part of the Life and Work coverage area” as it folds that department into Business, Finance and Economics.
The WSJ editor told staff the changes also “create new opportunities” with jobs they can apply for.
New York Times journalist Katie Robertson shared Tucker’s email to staff. Tucker said: “We’re uniting reporters and editors with related beats on larger teams in a simpler structure… I want this whole coverage area moving as one to tackle the biggest stories on our core subjects, in all the ways our audiences need.”
NBC News – 40 people
27 January: NBC News has laid off about 40 employees across several departments, or 2-3% of the company, according to Business Insider.
About 12 new positions will be created, as well as 50 other open positions already being hired for, and laid-off staff are being encouraged to apply.
CNN – 200 people
23 January: CNN plans to cut about 200 jobs focused on its TV operations but add the same number of digital roles like data scientists and product engineers, with the first 100 joining in the first half of the year according to The New York Times.
An internal memo from CNN chief executive Mark Thompson, reported on by CNN’s Reliable Sources newsletter, said the cuts amount to about 6% of the current workforce.
“Our objective is a simple one: to shift CNN’s gravity towards the platforms and products where the audience themselves are shifting and, by doing that, to secure CNN’s future as one of the world’s greatest news organisations,” Thompson said.
But because of the planned new hires, he added: “We don’t expect total headcount to fall much this year, if at all. That’s because of the $70m we’re investing in our digital plans and the many new jobs it will pay for.”
CNN is also planning a paid-for streaming version of CNN, a lifestyle product, and a “further major pivot to digital video”.
DC Thomson – 35 people
22 January: Scotland-based publisher DC Thomson is proposing to cut 35 jobs and has put 35 people at risk of redundancy.
The roles affected are across audience and insight, data journalism, subscriptions, brand and marketing, magazines and Beano Studios, Press Gazette understands.
Four magazines are expected to close. Read the full Press Gazette story here.
Chicago Sun-Times – Potentially 20 to 30 people
22 January: The Chicago Sun-Times is seeking an unknown number of voluntary buyouts from the newsroom, according to sister title WBEZ Chicago which said it could result in the deepest cutbacks since the title was taken over by non-profit Chicago Public Media in 2022.
The offer is being made to editorial staff at the Sun-Times and non-journalists at WBEZ but specific roles are not being targeted. The newsrooms of the two brands are already being merged. The Sun-Times has 104 journalists while WBEZ has 64. The total number of employees at Chicago Public Media is 278.
WBEZ said the move could save between $3m and $5m in annual expenses with the potential departure of 20 to 30 people.
Chicago Public Media chief executive Melissa Bell said in a message to donors: “Our hope is that this action and other efforts will reduce our costs so that we can avoid more significant cost-cutting measures down the road.
“This is a proactive decision that allows us to align our organization’s size with our goals while strengthening our most valuable and impactful initiatives and ensuring our financial sustainability.
“While we’ve made strides in adapting to the rapidly changing media landscape, these efforts haven’t yet translated into the sustainable revenue we need.”
London Live – 25 people
17 January: All 25 employees are expected to lose their jobs as a result of the closure of the London Live TV channel, according to London Centric which reported on their “battle for a fair payout”.
Dotdash Meredith – 143 people
16 January: Dotdash Meredith is cutting 143 jobs across multiple offices, according to Axios.
Chief executive Neil Vogel told staff in a memo: “The media landscape is changing rapidly, and we must change along with it.
“As we have talked about, we will be significantly increasing investment in projects that help us connect directly with our audiences and connect directly with our advertisers, which we believe are our biggest opportunities.
“Today’s actions, while never easy, allow us to better align our investments with these goals.”
Those growth areas reportedly include entertainment, food and ad tech arm D/Cipher.
It follows the November layoffs of about 53 people, or 1.5% of staff, who mostly worked on print products.
Wall Street Journal – Unknown number
16 January: Redundancies have been proposed in the Wall Street Journal’s London office according to a memo reported by Talking Biz News.
Editor Emma Tucker told staff: “We are bringing together our business, finance and economics coverage in the same way we did successfully in Singapore last year. This new combined team will report to Alex Frangos, and its reporters will have a wide remit to seek out distinctive and consequential stories in the region and beyond.
“We also announced the appointment of Brad Reagan as an enterprise editor in London. Brad is a deeply skilled big-story editor who has been behind some of our most ambitious and successful work. This will increase our capacity to turn-around high-ambition enterprise work faster and more flexibly in the region. Brad will report to Bruce Orwall in New York.
“This new structure means that we are proposing to close a small number of beats that have a narrower focus, or where we have adequate global coverage in other bureaus. As a result, there will be some redundancies. Those whose jobs will be affected were notified yesterday.”
Tech Crunch – Fewer than 10 people
15 January: Tech Crunch has made layoffs affecting “fewer than ten” people.
A spokesperson for the site told Business Insider: “We’re excited about the future of TechCrunch,” but that they are “making changes to some roles that no longer fit our evolving needs” and new hires will be made.
“This adjustment reflects our commitment to aligning our team structure with our business goals and not a cost-cutting effort.”
Vox Media – ‘At least’ 10 people
15 January: At least ten more people, “mostly director-level employees”, were laid off at Vox Media on Monday (13 January) according to The Wrap.
Vox Media – 12 people
9 January: Layoffs have been made at Vox.com, which the company described as “a difficult but necessary step as the industry evolves”.
A spokesperson said: “Going forward, Vox will focus resources where it is most competitive and distinctive, while creating a more collaborative structure across all platforms (text, podcast, video). Being more focused will help Vox to build a sustainable business for the long term, while maintaining its core editorial sensibility and continuing to serve the audience where they value Vox most.”
The Writers Guild of America, East told The Wrap 12 people had lost their jobs as a result.
It comes a month after journalists were laid off on Vox Media sister brands Thrillist and Eater.
Global Radio – Unknown number
9 January: UK radio company Global reportedly told staff of plans to end its local and regional shows on its Hearst, Smooth and Capital stations in England, with job losses expected as a result. However no details have yet been announced.
Reckon – 11 people
8 January: Reckon, a US news organisation that covers “reckonings in America” including via climate justice, racial justice, queer issues and trans rights, is shutting down with the loss of a reported 11 jobs.
Nieman Lab’s Sarah Scire said Reckon’s “Black Joy brand, newsletter and two associated employees will be moved to New Jersey Advance Media”.
Reckon and New Jersey Advance Media are both part of Advance Local, with the same ultimate owner as Conde Nast.
Reckon began life in the AJ.com newsroom in Alabama in 2017 before becoming its own brand with ambitions to be a national newsroom “centering stories of people traditionally boxed out of mainstream outlets”. A number of people were laid off just under a year ago.
Huffpost – More than 30 people
7 January: Huffpost plans to cut more than 30 editorial roles “due to ongoing and growing challenges to our business”, editor-in-chief Danielle Belton has told staff.
Some desks in the newsroom may be offered voluntary buyout packages and more information will be given in the coming days, Belton said.
Update: Two days later, Belton said she would leave the newsroom herself on 31 January as part of the cut to staff numbers.
She wrote in a note to staff: “Due to the fragilities of our industry and how they’re impacting Huffpost, I announced Tuesday that there will be a significant staff reduction in our newsroom. This decision was not made lightly. We unfortunately have to do this to right-size our business so Huffpost can survive this challenging time.
“No part of the newsroom is immune from this. Even me… This decision was difficult, yet obvious for me. Huffpost leadership made no decision to cut staff lightly, and in hopes of saving some roles, I knew I would face eliminating my own. I could not, in good faith, ask others to make this difficult decision without doing the same.”
She added that the company needs to decide “what next steps to take with the editor-in-chief role”.
The Washington Post – Fewer than 100 people
7 January: The Washington Post is cutting around 4% of its workforce, amounting to fewer than 100 people across its business divisions.
Some 73 people in the advertising department, the worst affected, were reportedly let go. Marketing and IT teams were also hit.
The Daily Beast reported that six people from the Post’s PR department were laid off, with four people remaining. Staff were told the paper “will stop the dedicated practice of publicity for our journalism across broadcast and traditional media outlets” and will focus instead on promoting its talent.
“We need our journalism to be accessed at an even greater rate and we no longer believe traditional outreach is the way to get us there,” chief communications officer Kathy Baird said in a memo to staff.
The newsroom was not affected. The Post last cut its number of journalists in 2023 when it made 240 voluntary buyouts.
The Post Guild, which represents newsroom staff, told its members: “This is a really, really hard time, coming after a really hard time, which came after a really hard time at the company.”
The Post said in a statement shared with The New York Times: “The Washington Post is continuing its transformation to meet the needs of the industry, build a more sustainable future and reach audiences where they are. Changes across our business functions are all in service of our greater goal to best position The Post for the future.”
An internal memo said the Post is “redefining how we approach client partnerships and advertising to move us beyond the traditional ways we’ve worked”.
In September the Post cut 54 people (25%) from its publishing software arm Arc XP.
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