Huge Layoffs At TBD.com

TBD.com, the high-profile Washington, D.C. news site that launched in August, is embarking on a massive round of layoffs, it was reported Wednesday. The site's editor, Erik Wemple, told the Washington City Paper that TBD will now become "a niche site on arts and entertainment," meaning that it is abandoning its attempt to be a local news site.

The Washington Business Journal reported that Albritton, the company which owns TBD, is eliminating the majority of the jobs at the site. "All but a handful" of the around two dozen staffers will be let go, the WBJ wrote.

The website WeLoveDC later reported that all of the news and sports reporters, as well as the social media team, is being fired.

The moves come two weeks after Albritton television station WJLA assumed control of TBD.

The layoffs mark a somewhat ignominious end to the first phase of TBD, which was launched with a roster of heavy-hitting editors and many lofty promises. The site made a big initial splash in the journalism community, which has been waiting to see whether a purely local news site can be financially successful--and which was optimistic that TBD, with its relatively deep pockets and connection to sister site Politico, could lead the way for local online journalism.

Comments

[MyrtleJune]

02:12 AM on 02/24/2011

I only clicked on this story to see what TBD was. I didn't find out..... apparently a sister to the gop online rag Politico.

[shangrolah]

09:58 PM on 02/23/2011

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/23/huge-layoffs-at-tdbcom_n_827142.html

Was really just an aggregation site anyway, little original reporting. Never really broke any news.

[GraniteSkyline]

09:39 PM on 02/23/2011

I don't know what their acronym stands for, but for me it is a dyslexic nightmare--BDTDB.... It would take me a week of concentrated effort to remember it. I still haven't got imdb.com down pat--whenever I mention it to people its usually "I saw on IMBD...."

[shangrolah]

09:59 PM on 02/23/2011

another odd thing about the site, wanted to be hip but didn't care what the circumstances were

[DrObvious]

08:35 PM on 02/23/2011

massive layoffs are now huge layoffs .... and we're talking about - at most -  2 dozen staffers
 
i guess i have a very different sense of scale than the lead-in editors at HuffPo
 
 
what will the label be when 1500 Wisconsin public employees are targeted by Governor Walker for layoff?    gargantuan?   collossal?

[shangrolah]

10:00 PM on 02/23/2011

good point. seemed massive because it is inside baseball for those who work for aggregation sites. And the headlines always go beyond the facts to get us to read, which they did.

[Hopalongpoppyseed]

08:02 PM on 02/24/2011

"what will the label be when 1500 Wisconsin public employees are targeted by Governor Walker for layoff? gargantuan­? collossal?" The label will be whatever draws the most clicks.

[lily]

06:52 PM on 02/23/2011

I'm sorry to hear this. They actually had a few talk show hosts who didn't regurgitate repug talking points.

[InfinteShibumi]

06:35 PM on 02/23/2011

ARGH. First they pull you in....!

[fourthestatepost]

06:31 PM on 02/23/2011

affiliated with politco? they were doomed from the very beginning.

[dextral]

05:31 PM on 02/23/2011

On the upside, it's a whole new population of out-of-work "journalists" who are likely to be desperate enough to blog on HP for no pay...

[jukesgrrl]

05:22 PM on 02/23/2011

Wow, just what we need. More entertainment news.

[InfinteShibumi]

06:36 PM on 02/23/2011

Exactly. ;-/

[amanandamouse]

04:53 PM on 02/23/2011

Well, maybe HuffPo's reporting of this news (about a site of which I've never heard) will bring it more eyeballs.

[InfinteShibumi]

06:36 PM on 02/23/2011

It's a local outlet in the DC market, formerly NewsChannel 8.

[amanandamouse]

09:34 AM on 02/24/2011

The article described it as a web site.

[Miriam Castano]

04:27 PM on 02/23/2011

That sucks! I always watch them for the news when other stations aren't showing the news yet ;-(

[Edward Murray]

04:20 PM on 02/23/2011

Well, at least we'll have more entertainment news to ignore...

[Joe Friday]

03:18 PM on 02/23/2011

The media trend continues ....... How low can it go??
The public seeks out news, not opinion!

TBD has failed! .... SHOCK!

[Alison Rose Levy]

04:49 PM on 02/23/2011

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alison-rose-levy/chris-hedges-huffington-a_b_827025.html

[Joe Friday]

06:08 PM on 02/23/2011

The truth will prevail! Just the facts, Ma'am!

[DrObvious]

02:00 PM on 02/23/2011

If most employees are getting laid off, that sucks for them.   But there are just 2 dozen or so employees,  so "massive"  doesn't quite accurately capture the magnitude of this event.  Not in a labor force of 140 million people.
 
How about "most employees lose jobs at TBD"?