Sports Illustrated lays off 17 employees, including top editors

San Francisco, Feb 16 (IANS) Sports Illustrated has laid off top editors, including executive editor Adam Duerson, among 17 workers amid the deepening global macro-economic conditions.

Duerson announced on Twitter that he has been asked to go.

“Folks, I’m done. I’ve joined the esteemed ranks of former @SInow editors — a brilliant and vast group whose members have each deserved better, but who were PAID (!!) to think and dissect and parse and nitpick. Imagine that. It was surreal to the last second,” he posted.

An internal memo obtained by The New York Post revealed that Ryan Hunt, the co-editor-in-chief who has been with the media house for 25 years, is retiring in March.

“We are saying goodbye to 17 colleagues and have created 12 new openings to reflect the new needs of the Sports Illustrated (SI) business,” according to the memo.

“The changes announced here will allow us to continue to respond and address those evolving audience needs. It is critical that we invest in the growth areas of our brands, while maintaining the expectations of our existing and long-time consumers,” the memo read.

Some of the other laid-off employees took to social media.

“I was laid off by Sports Illustrated… I came here as a nervous and awed 22-year-old fresh out of college and leave nearly 9 years later having grown immensely. I’ve worked with so many tremendous people and I’m really proud of everything we accomplished,” tweeted college sports editor Molly Geary.

Features writer Alex Prewitt posted that “after seven and a half years of writing about the NHL, NBA, NFL, MLB, LPGA, World Cup, Olympics and more, I, too, have been laid off by Sports Illustrated this morning.”

Sports Illustrated joins several media houses that have laid off hundreds of employees, including NBC News, MSNBC, CNN, Paramount Global, The Walt Disney Company and others.

Amid the Big Tech layoff season, the media and entertainment industry worldwide has been hit with job cuts as advertisers reduce spending amid the global economic slowdown.

–IANS

na/svn/