Millennial conservative site lays off staff after Facebook change
The Independent Journal Review, a conservative site aimed at millennials, fired 15 employees on Thursday in what's being described as "a massive blow to the already-skeleton staff."
The terminations were sent via email, according to the Daily Caller, which first reported the lay-offs.
They were really careful this time. Everything was sent individually. Mine was a simple your position was one of those terminated,' one staffer told the Daily Caller.
A sharp decline in traffic is likely the cause behind the firings, with SimilarWeb.com analytics showing more than a 13 percent drop from November 2017 to January 2018 alone.
A source close to IJR who requested anonymity told the Hill that IJR suffered from both "erratic leadership" and changes to the Facebook algorithm, which recently started downplaying news stories in users' feed.
"Ninety-eight percent of the their traffic comes from Facebook," the source said. "And with the newsfeed changes they got hit hard, not to mention erratic leadership at the top."
http://thehill.com/homenews/media/374195-millennial-conservative-site-lays-off-staff-after-facebook-change