(PM.) On Thursday, BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti announced that as part of restructuring at the company, BuzzFeed News would be ceasing operations.
The news was celebrated by many, not least Elon Musk, who roasted the outlet on Twitter.
It sucked
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 21, 2023
“It sucked,” Musk said of BuzzFeed News shortly after Peretti’s memo to staff went viral.
Musk has been a frequent target of BuzzFeed and its news division, which ran countless articles scrutinizing his acquisition of Twitter and numerous hit pieces on everything from his business decisions to his personal life.
The billionaire’s sentiments were shared by many prominent right-wing media personalities, including Glenn Greenwald, Stephen Miller, and Charlie Kirk.
Miller slammed the soon-to-be-defunct outlet, claiming it “did more harm to the online journalism industry than almost any other media outfit.” In a piece for the Spectator, he broke down BuzzFeed News’ quantity-over-quality strategy, and explained how its journalists had managed to get away with publishing misleading and often flat-out incorrect stories.
“It was a cancer on ethical journalism, changed the world of internet reporting for the worst,” Miller said, “and while I take no pleasure in people losing their jobs, that website absolutely deserved to die.”
In a clever mockery of BuzzFeed News’ classic “listicles,” Kirk outlined seven reasons why he believed the site was being shut down.
7 Reasons BuzzFeed News is Shutting Down (You Won’t Believe #3!)
1. Turns out crummy listicles don’t pay in the long run. Who knew?
2. On issues like LGBT insanity and “anti-racism,” BuzzFeed said “there are not two sides” and they wouldn’t even pretend to offer objective…
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) April 20, 2023
