BuzzFeed Shuts Down Its Namesake News Division

BuzzFeed is shutting down its namesake news division, which won acclaim for its journalism but fell prey to the punishing economics of digital publishing that has laid low many of its peers.

Jonah Peretti, BuzzFeed’s chief executive, said in an email to employees on Thursday that he was closing BuzzFeed News as part of a broader round of cuts at the company. About 60 people will be affected by the shuttering of the news division, some of whom will be offered jobs at other parts of the company.

BuzzFeed’s decision is the latest in a series of financial setbacks faced by digital media companies. Once the focus of enormous optimism and investment from industry titans including Disney and Comcast, new-media firms like BuzzFeed, Vox Media and Vice have failed to live up to their formerly lofty valuations.