PORTLAND — Portland tech news site Digital Trends laid off 17 people Wednesday and cut ties with an unspecified number of freelance writers, the latest online publisher to cut back during the coronavirus pandemic.
The company said the layoffs are part of a strategic shift in its business, and that Digital Trends’ workforce will grow overall as it hires 30 new employees for unspecified roles.
“These changes will enable Digital Trends to optimize our operations and focus on the highest-performing and fastest-growing areas of our business,” the company said in a written statement.
Founded in 2006, Digital Trends posts tech news and product reviews on its website. Wednesday’s cuts appear to represent half of Digital Trends’ editorial staff, including its news department, its video game editor, its audio-visual editor and the host and crew of the site’s daily live show.
Digital Trends also laid off personnel working for its Spanish-language site and a men’s lifestyle site it runs called The Manual. Business journalism site Talking Biz News first reported the layoffs.
Employees took to Twitter to acknowledge their own layoffs and commend their colleagues.
“There are a lot of talented writers and journalists at Digital Trends and it’s really unfortunate that the company decided to part ways with such a talented staff,” said Mathew Katz, a Portland journalist who had been Digital Trends’ associate managing editor.
In June, Digital Trends apologized for perpetuating a “bro culture” within the company that “failed critical voices including women and people of color among our staff.”
The publisher was responding to an employee outcry over a lack of diversity and sensitivity within the company. Staff cited a series of incidents, including a 2018 “Gin and Juice” party in which a white executive mimicked hip-hop culture by dressing in a black hat, bandanna and white T-shirt, standing before a poster of graffiti while holding a bottle wrapped in a paper bag.
That executive, chief operating officer Chris Carlson, remained with the company even after the June apology. Some current and former employees said the lack of change at the top of the organization caused them to doubt Digital Trends was sincere about the change.
It doesn’t appear Wednesday’s layoffs were related to the company’s culture, though. Many online media sites have cut jobs this year, undermined by the difficult advertising market created by the pandemic.
In Oregon, many regional publications cut staff hours or pay early in the pandemic. There have been fewer cuts in recent months, though, amid signs the industry has stabilized amid a stronger-than-expected economy.
The Oregonian Media Group, which published The Oregonian and OregonLive, told staff this month that it will end temporary pay cuts instituted last spring as its business begins to recover.
