Journalism layoffs continue to dismantle major American newsrooms, with People Inc. announcing another 195 job cuts on Thursday, October 29, 2026. The publisher behind People, Food & Wine, and Better Homes & Gardens is eliminating approximately 6% of its workforce, primarily in print and traditional web operations, as it redirects resources toward social video and newer digital businesses.
The latest announcement comes just one year after People Inc. eliminated 226 positions in October 2025. The company is among several established media organizations reducing staff, raising concerns about the future of journalism and the experienced professionals being pushed out of the industry.
Since late 2024, Hearst Magazines has eliminated approximately 192 positions, CNN has cut roughly 200 employees, and NBC News has laid off about 150 workers. CBS News eliminated nearly 100 positions in October 2025, followed by another round affecting approximately 66 employees in March 2026. That second restructuring also ended CBS News Radio after nearly a century of broadcasting.
The journalism layoffs have been particularly devastating for Black journalists, including respected reporters with decades of experience.
Michelle Miller, an award-winning correspondent who joined CBS News in 2004, was laid off in October 2025 after 21 years with the network. Miller covered major national stories involving racial injustice, civil rights, and social issues while contributing to 48 Hours, CBS Sunday Morning, and CBS Saturday Morning. Her co-host Dana Jacobson, who joined CBS in 2015 after a decade at ESPN, was also eliminated.
CBS simultaneously dismantled its race and culture unit, established following George Floyd’s murder in 2020.
Black producer Trey Sherman also lost his position when CBS Evening News Plus was canceled. Sherman publicly questioned the racial impact of the layoffs after learning that four producers of color on his nine-person team were dismissed while five white colleagues were reassigned, according to his account and another former employee.
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NBC News made similar reductions in October 2025, eliminating dedicated teams responsible for NBC BLK, NBC Latino, NBC Asian America, and NBC OUT.
Among those laid off was Curtis Bunn, an award-winning Black journalist who spent more than 30 years reporting on race, sports, politics, and social issues. Bunn was the only remaining reporter assigned to NBC BLK, which covered stories affecting African American communities. Although NBC said coverage under those brands would continue, the dedicated teams were dismantled.
The National Association of Black Journalists publicly criticized the decision, warning that eliminating these teams weakened representative journalism.
In February 2026, The Washington Post conducted one of the industry’s largest newsroom reductions, cutting hundreds of employees and eliminating its sports department and books section while sharply reducing local and international coverage.
The journalism layoffs claimed several accomplished Black reporters, including Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Akilah Johnson, whose reporting examined racial disparities in health care. Johnson previously worked for ProPublica and The Boston Globe before joining the Post in 2021.
Race and ethnicity reporter Emmanuel Felton was also laid off, along with Michael Brice-Saddler, who spent six years reporting on Washington, D.C., neighborhoods and local government.
Veteran sports columnist Candace Buckner, who had covered sports journalism since 2002 and joined the Post in 2016, lost her position as the paper dismantled its sports department. She subsequently joined The Athletic.
Union figures revealed that the Post’s reductions disproportionately affected employees of color. According to the Washington Post Guild, 45% of Black union members, 50% of Hispanic or Latino members, and 43% of Asian members were laid off, compared with 37% of white members.
The cuts also reached publications covering younger, diverse audiences. Teen Vogue eliminated multiple positions in November 2025 as it was absorbed into Vogue’s digital operation, including its two remaining Black women writers.
Local journalism has not escaped the devastation.
In July 2026, News 12 consolidated operations serving the Bronx, Brooklyn, Westchester, and Connecticut, eliminating jobs and reducing standalone neighborhood newscasts. Black journalist Tahj Anthony, an Emmy-nominated senior producer who worked at News 12 the Bronx for four years, was among those laid off.
McClatchy followed in September 2026, eliminating more than 90 unionized positions across 17 publications, including the Miami Herald, Sacramento Bee, and Charlotte Observer. The cuts nearly wiped out the newsroom of the Spanish-language El Nuevo Herald.
The financial crisis behind journalism layoffs involves declining advertising revenue, disappearing print subscriptions, shrinking television audiences, and technology companies capturing online traffic. Publishers are increasingly investing in streaming, artificial intelligence, subscriptions, and social media video while reducing traditional reporting positions.
AI-generated search summaries create additional pressure by answering users’ questions without necessarily directing them to the publications that produced the reporting. Meanwhile, media consolidation allows corporations to reduce overlapping departments and operational costs.
Northwestern University’s 2026 State of Local News report found that 170 newspapers closed or merged during the previous year. The newspaper industry lost more than 7,500 jobs between 2024 and 2025, including approximately 1,300 newsroom positions.
These reductions leave fewer journalists investigating public corruption, documenting housing inequities, reporting on education, and telling stories about culture and communities that rarely receive sustained national attention.
For Black journalists who spent decades building credibility and relationships, experience is no longer a guarantee of employment. For the communities they covered, losing those reporters also means losing the institutional knowledge and trusted sources that made their journalism possible.
