Al Jazeera America has laid off dozens of employees as part of its restructuring plans. The cable channel is disbanding its sport unit and is cutting its daily social media show The Stream to once a week. At least 20 The Stream staffers were laid off, it was reported in The Hollywood Reporter. Kate O’Brian, President, […]
Al Jazeera America has laid off dozens of employees as part of its restructuring plans. The cable channel is disbanding its sport unit and is cutting its daily social media show The Stream to once a week.
At least 20 The Stream staffers were laid off, it was reported in The Hollywood Reporter.
Kate O’Brian, President, Al Jazeera America, said in a memo to staff that the decision will affect some staff, freelancers, independent contractors, and other project-oriented individuals who have been with us for several months, as quoted by the Hollywood Reporter.
O’Brian also said the new cuts are the result of restructuring after a launch that required considerable resources.
Now it is time to set our sights on new goals, requiring different levels and areas of investment and resources, O’Brian added.
The channel, which launched on Aug. 20, 2013 and has hired numerous high-profile journalists, has struggled to gain a foothold in the US.
We have reached what I will call our steady-state level of operations and we are bringing our staffing levels into alignment with our long-range plan as per our original business case, OBrian said in the memo.
As a result, certain parts of our organisation will expand or contract and staff levels and resources will be re-calibrated.
