The Independent is in talks to take control of BuzzFeed and HuffPost in the UK and Ireland, as part of a “strategic partnership” that aims to boost the fortunes of two strikingly different players in the UK media landscape.
BuzzFeed UK was once looked upon with envy by legacy publishers who coveted its reach with younger audiences, but its star has faded after huge losses at its parent company. Free online news publishers are facing a torrid financial time as social networks such as Facebook are no longer sending as many readers, while advertisers are cutting spending.
It could now come under the editorial and commercial control of the Independent, which was launched in 1986 and is part-owned by a bank controlled by the Saudi state.
In a move of symbolic significance that reflects the shifting sands of the UK media, BuzzFeed’s UK brands HuffPost, Seasoned and Tasty will be included in the deal, but US brands Celeb, Tech, Admin and HuffPost US will not.
Announcing the news on Thursday, the BuzzFeed founder and CEO, Jonah Peretti, told UK staff of his “excitement” about “the partnership we are exploring with the Independent”, which he said put the organisation “in a strong position to join forces with a local partner who can expand resources on the ground, unlock more strategic value for the brands, and take our UK business to the next level”.
In an email to all staff, Peretti said that under the proposed partnership, the Independent would offer “increased resources across editorial and sales, and offer a wide mix of products across their portfolio”.
He added: “Since 1986, the Independent has been a news organisation at the frontline of journalism – and together with BuzzFeed’s UK brands, the two portfolios would create one of the region’s largest combined audiences.”
Sources at the Independent said the move would offer growth and stability to the publication, which like the rest of the British media has been facing strong financial headwinds, steep drops in advertising revenues and fierce competition for readers’ attention. Last month the Independent experienced the biggest month-on-month audience drop of 12%, down to 19.2 million, according to Press Gazette’s monthly audience rankings.
“It’s an opportunity for us to extend our reach and find a different generation, to keep growing and be a global player,” said the source. “A different generation and different margins is a pretty attractive offering.”
They said that readers of the Independent should not expect to see a proliferation of listicles and other highly shareable content as popularised and mastered by BuzzFeed, as the publications would remain entirely separate. UK-based BuzzFeed staff would be transferred to the Independent’s London offices, the Financial Times reported.
Alex DeGroote, a media analyst, said it was unclear if any money was changing hands in the proposed deal, which was likely to be a “needs must” partnership for both publishers.
“The digital media and advertising market is pretty dire for all publishers in 2024, so a merger is a logical response,” he said. “This will give Independent more scale, eyeballs and resources.”
While recent online audience trends for the Independent have been challenging, BuzzFeed has had its stock fall 95% since the company went public at $10 (£8) a share in December 2021, CNBC reported.
“This move may allow BuzzFeed [to] cut off UK losses and focus purely on US operations, thus improving overall financial performance,” said DeGroote. “The market may speculate that this is [the] first step towards full-scale combination of Independent and BuzzFeed.”
The drop in BuzzFeed’s share value has been precipitous for an organisation that won awards for its news coverage and was seen as a shining example of a new media model that could attract a younger audience. Despite vast sums ploughed into the organisation by investors, it has struggled to become financially secure.
In March 2021, HuffPost shut down its national news operation, retaining only the politics team. Then, in April last year BuzzFeed closed what remained of its news department, with Peretti telling staff that “the company can no longer continue to fund BuzzFeed News” and suggesting there may not be a sustainable business model for high-quality online news.
The Independent appointed the former Daily Mail editor Geordie Greig as editor-in-chief at the start of last year, as the news outlet was facing tough financial challenges and dealing with a round of redundancies.
