Layoffs at Current TV : A "Bloodbath"
( 6:30 PT 11/11/08: This item has been updated. — DW)
As we reported here last night, exclusively, Al Gore’s Current TV is laying off staff today.
I have now recieved a copy of the company’s announcement. Here it is in its entirety:
“Current Media today announced changes to its structure and staffing. Approximately 60 positions have been eliminated in the company’s three U.S. offices and approximately 30 new positions created. Many of those whose positions were eliminated have been placed in the new positions. Current will have approximately 410 employees (after these staffing adjustments). These changes result from the development of a new, innovative programming strategy built around eight cross-platform channels, including news, comedy, music and technology, slated to premiere in the first quarter of 2009. Current’s new programming strategy expands upon its pioneering use of viewer created content to include additional opportunities for participation, creating a far more viewer-influenced network, and further unifies the Company’s online and TV platforms by having each web channel paired with a companion TV show. In addition, these changes enable Current Media to reduce its cost structure, there by assuring that it will be comfortably profitable in 2009 regardless the depth and length of the recession.”
One person on scene in San Francisco termed it a “bloodbath.” Company execs reportedly met last weekend to determine who would be laid off. Tensions have been reported between the two California offices over business strategy and content strategy, with the L.A. unit apparently coming out the “winner.”
Like many media startups during Web 2.0, Current TV has employed a mixed-model of joining user-generated news video content with conventional news content over television and the web. The trick with this model is how to achieve the right balance and then how to monetize it. The company had announced plans to file a $100 million IPO earlier this year, but that had to be shelved in light of current market conditions.
Other new media companies implementing layoffs this Veteran’s Day include Wired.com, which reportedly fired 12 staffers, or a quarter of its staff. The current rounds of cuts indicate that the overall media downturn has breached the divide from traditional media to online media, so the job security jitters are spreading through all companies now, big or small, old or new.
Assuming the conventional wisdom — that we are entering a prolonged recession — is true, it appears sadly inevitable that many more media jobs will be lost in the months to come.
In addition to serving as a BNET Media analyst/blogger, David Weir is a veteran journalist and the author of several books. Weir is a co-founder and vice-president of the Center for Investigative Reporting, as well as an editorial board member of The Nation.
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