CNET Cuts 120 Jobs During Restructuring
By Joseph Hunkins at March 26, 2008 0 Comments|
CNET will cut 120 jobs soon according to an internal memo obtained by PaidContent. In perhaps a testimony to many of the challenges facing CNET they did not even get the privilege of breaking their own big news today. CNET was effectively scooped on the very story it has been writing for some time. CNET remains one of the internet’s top news websites, and has been one of technologies most recognizable and respected brands for many years, and continues to maintain the high respect of the technology community. Their technology writing and analysis is recognized as some of the best in the business and CNETs reputation for editorial and quality control is unsurpassed in the industry. Yet investors are worried because CNET has seen significant earnings declines in the past year. Zacks analysis suggests a modest profit downturn in the coming year. A key challenge for CNET as well as other media outlets with online divisions is that writers cost money. Good writers, collectively, cost a lot of money. Blogging and the social media revolution have led to an online environment that creates a tidal wave of quality tech-focused content every day at very low average cost per article. Also, although online news remains fairly current, it simply cannot always compete with the 24/7/365 blogging community that is posting (and increasingly scooping) CNET and other media outlets when technology news breaks. Editorial standards force CNET to delay where bloggers and online journals will report first and ask questions later. The practice is questionable from a journalism point of view, but usually it is just fine for advertisers and certainly helps with traffic generation as the early reports often garner the most page views. Even after the layoffs, it is likely that management will continue to place pressure on the company to cut costs and increase monetization for content. CNET Linkage: |
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CNET, employment, jobs, restructuring
