Online publisher CNET lays off ten percent of workforce in face of hostile takeover
CNET, one of the largest and oldest publishers of online technology news, is laying off ten percent of its workforce, or 120 employees.
The move, announced this afternoon in an internal memo obtained by PaidContent, is most likely intended to show that the company is serious about operating more efficiently. It is facing an increasingly threatening hostile board takeover effort led by hedge fund firm Jana Partners.
San Francisco-based CNET, a public company, has been fighting back against exploding competition from independent blogs. Most recently, it has re-arranged its editorial structure to put veteran reporter Dan Farber in charge, and it has given its rank-and-file editorial staff more freedom to blog.
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About the Author, Eric Eldon
Eric currently covers digital media technology and business news, especially what's happening on social networks and their platforms. He also writes and edits stories about venture capital, and lots of other stuff, too. He started at VentureBeat in the spring of 2007, half a year or so after Matt Marshall left his reporting job at the San Jose Mercury News to found the site. Eric previously cofounded a startup called Writewith, that was building editorial software for newspapers and other groups of writers. The startup didn't work out, but he learned a lot.