Yahoo Movies Fox News Digital Trims Staff Amid Restructuring; Political Editor Chris Stirewalt Among Layoffs
UPDATE, 1:42 PM ET: Among those affected by Fox News Digital layoffs today was Chris Stirewalt, a longtime politics editor.
A Fox News spokesperson would not comment, citing employee confidentiality.
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Stirewalt worked on the network’s Decision Desk in the most recent election cycle. Fox News drew the ire of Donald Trump and his supporters when the desk called Arizona for Joe Biden on election night. That was a signal that Trump would lose the election when all of the votes were counted, but the president insisted that evening that he had won.
In the face of criticism that the call was premature, Stirewalt stood by it. “Arizona is doing just what we expected it to do and we remain serene and pristine,” he said. They were right.
In another move, Bill Sammon, Washington managing editor and a vice president at the network, announced his retirement. According to Axios, on election night Trump told adviser Jason Miller to call Sammon to try to get the network to reverse the Arizona call. Trump has attacked Fox News for the call and urged his supporters to watch One America News Network and Newsmax.
PREVIOUSLY: Fox News Digital is trimming its staff amid a restructuring following the 2020 election.
The cuts were of fewer than 20 employees, according to a person familiar with the matter.
“As we conclude the 2020 election cycle, Fox News Digital has realigned its business and reporting structure to meet the demands of this new era,” the network said in a statement. “We are confident these changes will ensure the platform continues to deliver breakthrough reporting and insightful analysis surrounding major issues, both stateside and abroad.”
In September, Fox News announced a restructuring of some of its divisions, with a reduction of its workforce of less than 3%, or about 80 employees. At the time, the network said that they are “realigning several functions and restructuring various divisions in order to position all of our businesses for ongoing success.”
Fox News Digital had increased their employee base for the 2020 election, and the latest cuts reflect a post-election streamlining. The employees will receive enhanced severance and benefits packages.
The past year has seen reductions in the workforces at almost all of the other major networks. In December, ABC News went through a round of layoffs in the “low single digit” percentage of the workforce. NBC News and CBS News also have trimmed the size of their staffs.
In a separate announcement on Monday, Bill Sammon said that he was retiring as Washington managing editor and a vice president at the network. He has been in that post since 2009.
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