Gannett laid off 400 employees in August, according to reports. CEO Michael Reed revealed the tally during a Wednesday all-hands meeting at the newspaper publisher’s headquarters. Washington Post media reporter Elahe Izadi said an executive also disclosed 400 open positions were eliminated.
The Daily Beast calls it a “blood bath” but the USA TODAY publisher calls it necessary. According to Poynter, the publisher also slashed it’s marketing budget, made non-payroll cost reductions and reduced the executive team by two.
Gannett reported a $53.7 million net loss for the second quarter of 2022. Furthermore, total revenues declined nearly 7% in the quarter compared to the year prior. More so, the financial results don’t compare favorably to their peer group. For example, Lee Enterprises was profitable in it’s latest quarter. In addition, Lee marked an inflection point in advertising and marketing revenues with 51% coming from digital. While Gannett reports digital revenues comprised 35% of their total revenues in the latest quarter.
Potential Gannett employees were turned off by the publisher’s lack of candor surrounding the layoffs.
Losing Bet
CEO Reed was bullish about the publisher’s exclusive partnership with Tipico Sportsbook a year ago. As part of a five-year, $90 million deal, Tipico became the exclusive sports betting and iGaming provider for Gannett, and integrated its odds, props, free-to-play games and betting trends across their sites. The idea was that Tipico would get eyeballs to their brand while Gannett would get betting referral fees.
Tipico operated in New Jersey and Colorado. Fast forward to today and Tipico still only operates in two state. Reed, on the August earnings call, said they restructured the deal to now allow opportunities with other sports betting brands. Logical given the massive marketing spent by the larger players.
Who were the Gannett 400?
One Times Record reporter described being “devastated” after being laid off by Gannett. But she marked her progress as a journalist. Meanwhile, the Washington Post told the tale of the lone full time news reporter at the Daily Jeffersonian. Kristi Garabrandt covered Guernsey County, Ohio for Gannett. Garabrandt was shocked to be laid off in August. “When you’re the paper’s only reporter, you don’t consider yourself nonessential,” she said.
Mónica Ortiz Uribe was eliminated by Gannett in August. The race and diversity reporter at The El Paso Times said she “was proud to contribute my skills to my hometown newspaper.”
