ABC News to Take Huge Staff Cut

ABC News, a division of the Walt Disney Company, is going to be making some major cuts. On Tuesday it was announced that 20 to 25 percent of the division’s workforce will be either laid off or bought out.

David Westin, ABC News president, has called the cutbacks a “fundamental transformation” in order to make the division leaner. “The time has come to rethink how we do what we are doing.”

The main reason for the major reductions is because of the economic situation that’s putting pressure on the broadcast business in general. As Westin said, “These are forces larger than any of us — business forces, just the realities of broadcast versus digital, as well as financial forces, given the advertising market.”

Unfortunately this is nothing new. For decades now network news has been suffering audience loss due to cable, internet, and changing consumer habits. With constant pressure from their parent companies, news divisions have suffered rounds of cuts through the years, with this one being one of the largest yet. CBS News has reported that dozens of workers would be laid off this month.