[minimaxir]

As noted in the Vice layoffs thread a week ago (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23193140), these industry layoffs are a function of revenue pipelines, and it is 100% not related to the type of content or political leanings.

[rayvd]

Except where revenue pipelines are influenced by readership reaction to content quality or political leanings informing that content?

Don't think you can make a statement like "100% not related".

[bearcobra]

100% not related is probably too strong, but reports say they've broken readership records and have added ~90,000 subscribers since March. It seems much more plausible that the collapse of the events and ad businesses due to current economic conditions are the driver.

[kristianc]

Both can be true. Ad revenues have been hit by COVID for sure, but the remaining ad dollars have gravitated toward higher-quality and more credible news sources. Clickbait and hype merchants like VICE, Buzzfeed, and latterly the Atlantic (the Buzzfeed of the Aspen Institute set) have suffered disproportionately.

[bazzert]

Exactly right, I used to be a subscriber and keen reader but lately it has been ridiculous headlines like this one ... https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2020/04/why-georg...

[wiremine]

> Don't think you can make a statement like "100% not related".

That's likely true. Would be interesting to see ad revenue figures for a good cross section of the industry.