ABC Announces Layoffs

David Westin

ABC News announced on February 23 that it will reduce its staff by buyouts or layoffs if necessary. Employees said the cutbacks would affect 300 to 400 staffers, about 25 percent of its work force of about 1,500 people.

“The cuts at ABC, a unit of the Walt Disney Company, are among the steepest ever made at a network news division,” The New York Times wrote.

David Westin, ABC News president, wrote in a memorandum to staff members, “The time has come to rethink how we do what we are doing.” The network will rely more heavily on so-called “digital journalists” in which staff members produce, record and edit much of their material.