Huffington Post, Once a Beacon of Gender Equality, Is Shedding Women Editors Under BuzzFeed

The Huffington Post, once praised as a cutting-edge media outlet driven by women, is losing much of its female staff amid widespread layoffs, effectively dealing a blow to its progressive reputation in a male-dominated industry.

After the website's acquisition by BuzzFeed was finalized last month, BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti announced a restructuring effort that aims to "fast-track" HuffPost's "path to profitability," according to a HuffPost report. Peretti reportedly told staff the website's losses amounted to approximately $20 million in 2020.

This week was marred by layoffs at HuffPost. Peretti said the employment of 47 U.S. staff would be affected, including eight in management. HuffPost Canada and HuffPost Quebec were shut down altogether on Tuesday, leaving 23 employees without work. And on Friday, The Guardian reported Peretti told HuffPost U.K. staff 16 out of its 29 journalists would lose their jobs.

BuzzFeed's move also appeared to erode HuffPost's distinctive history of female leadership. In the U.S., Executive Editor Hillary Frey and Executive Director for international Louise Roug were among those leaving the company. Strategic Innovation Director Jennifer Kho announced she was also laid off, noting the three women's exits "at least temporarily" marked the end of "female leadership at one of the world's largest news sites, in a mostly male-led industry."

In the London newsroom, 11 of the 16 people whose jobs are on the chopping block are women, The Guardian reported. Editor-in-Chief Jess Brammar faces being laid off, as does every mother on the editorial staff—including one on maternity leave.

The announcements were met with criticism among media professionals, who saw the layoffs as indicative of a failing industry, as well as particularly callous during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The manner in which Peretti announced the layoffs was also perceived to be insensitive. Defector Media reported Peretti told HuffPost staff that if they didn't receive an email by 1 p.m. EDT on the day of the announcement, their jobs were safe. Those who were emailed were invited to a virtual meeting, for which the password was "spr!ngisH3r3." A BuzzFeed spokesperson later told The New York Times the company regretted the tone of the password.

"We are devastated and infuriated, particularly after an exhausting year of covering a pandemic and working from home," the HuffPost Union said in a statement, adding it had lost nearly 30 percent of its bargaining unit to the layoffs. "We never got a fair shot to prove our worth."

BuzzFeed's union similarly expressed it was "devastated" at the news. "Our company is losing dozens of immensely talented journalists today, a sad development after a turbulent year that demonstrated how essential quality reporting is to building a better internet," the union said.

HuffPost was launched in 2005, co-founded by Arianna Huffington—the website's namesake—Peretti, Andrew Breitbart and Kenneth Lerer. Peretti founded BuzzFeed the following year.

Huffington, long praised as an influential female mogul, served as the website's editor-in-chief from 2011 to 2016. Award-winning journalist Lydia Polgreen subsequently took over the role, before resigning in 2020 to join Gimlet Media. According to HuffPost, Frey led the U.S. newsroom following Polgreen's departure.

HuffPost's acquisition by BuzzFeed in a deal with Verizon Media was first announced in November 2020. In a statement, BuzzFeed said its news arm and HuffPost "will operate as separate, distinct news organizations."