AOL eliminated approximately 900 jobs today, including 200 US employees in the media and tech group and 700 people in India.
In a company memo that has leaked out to a number of news organizations, chief executive Tim Armstrong tries to paint the move as a positive and necessary step towards turning the company around, saying it will a4Asignificantly improve AOLa4a4s ability to focus on growth.a4 And despite the layoffs, Armstrong said AOL will be a a4Anet importer of journalists.a4 (Translation: We&'re hiring more than we&'re firing.) The layoffs also seem a little less severe than the 400 to 500 US layoffs that were reported yesterday.
Still, there are reasons to be skeptical. Ita4a4s not just how many people got laid off but who. AOLa4a4s own senior vice president of news Jonathan Dube posted on Twitter that the layoffs included a4Adozens of the most talented journalists &' product folks I know.a4 Wireda4a4s Sam Gustin, himself a former AOL employee, described it as a a4Abloodbatha4 and said the cuts included a number of veteran journalists, including PoliticsDailya4a4s Editor in Chief Melinda Henneberger.
Why would AOL target some of its most experienced writers and editors while ita4a4s also hiring new people Most likely because experience is expensive. Ita4a4s cheaper to bring on young writers who ask for less money, are willing to crank out lots of blog posts, and will go along with AOLa4a4s aggressive new traffic strategy called a4Athe AOL Way.a4 (When Engadget Editor Paul J. Miller left the AOL-owned gadget blog last month, he pointed to the AOL Way as evidence that the company a4Ahas its heart in the wrong place.a4)
Former AOL employees arena4a4t the only ones with doubts about what Armstrong claims is an a4Aenhanced focus on quality journalism.a4 New York Times Executive Editor Bill Keller published a column today called a4AAll the Aggregation Thata4a4s Fit to Aggregatea4. While it was almost certainly written before the layoffs were announced, ita4a4s still relevant. Keller takes aim at The Huffington Post, which AOL recently acquired, and which will take a prominent role in the companya4a4s editorial structure. Kellera4a4s arguments are pretty familiar, but theya4a4re stated eloquently and amusingly:
a4AAggregationa4 can mean smart people sharing their reading lists, plugging one another into the bounty of the information universe. It kind of describes what I do as an editor. But too often it amounts to taking words written by other people, packaging them on your own Web site and harvesting revenue that might otherwise be directed to the originators of the material. a4
Last month, when AOL bought The Huffington Post for $315 million, it was portrayed as a sign that AOL is moving into the business of creating stuff a4a4 what we used to call writing or reporting or journalism but we now call a4Acontent.a4 Buying an aggregator and calling it a content play is a little like a companya4a4s announcing plans to improve its cash position by hiring a counterfeiter.
Naturally, Huffington Post founder Arianna Huffington has responded.
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Companies: aol
People: Ariana Huffington, Bill Keller, Tim Armstrong
Companies: aol
People: Ariana Huffington, Bill Keller, Tim Armstrong
Anthony is a senior editor at VentureBeat, as well as its reporter on media, advertising, and social networks. Before joining the site in 2008, Anthony worked at the Hollister Free Lance, where he won awards from the California Newspaper Publishers Association for breaking news coverage and writing. He attended Stanford University and now lives in San Francisco. Reach him at anthony@venturebeat.com. (All story pitches should also be sent to tips@venturebeat.com) You can also follow Anthony on Twitter.
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