Editorial Layoffs Are Everywhere: Here's How to Handle Them as a Publicist

6 things to do TODAY to help writers/editors + why you must educate your clients

It’s another rough Q4 in the media world … yes this happens every year, but it feels especially brutal right now.

If you haven’t heard, there have been a slew of editorial layoffs over the last few weeks:

• Vox Media laid off a ton of staff yesterday and it looks like Thrillist might be over (ironically the same week I finally get my first byline with the outlet, and now I’m left wondering if I’ll ever get paid)

• DotDash Meredith laid off 53 people

• Hearst laid off 200 employees

• TMB laid off an unknown number of employees, mostly in the e-commerce departments across all brands (I don’t have an article to link to, but several of my editors were let go and I was told there were more)

• And here’s a link to a whole bunch more layoffs

It’s a tough time to say the least. And we don’t know if it’s over or if there’s even more to come.

Wondering how to proceed? Much like my 9 Steps for Handling Media Outreach During a Tragedy, I want to help you navigate this devastating time in our industry with a FREE post (this is not information I’d ever paywall — and in fact, I’d really appreciate if you shared this post with your colleagues).

Here are some do’s and don’ts to consider:

1. Do pause your cold pitching. I’ve already noticed my inbox has slowed way down today … which means a lot of you have already figured out that now’s not a great time to send cold pitches. Many journalists are not in the headspace to be creative right now (which is needed to read through a pitch and decide how/what we should do with it) and our editors may no longer be at the publications we contribute to. Give us a little time to wrap our heads around these changes. We don’t want to have transactional interactions right now. And please, pause the follow-ups too.

2. Do continue to get info to the writers you are working on current stories with. If you have a story in the works with a writer, please get them the info you promised … we don’t have the extra mental energy to chase things down right now. Please help make our lives a bit easier if you can. We are in panic mode and still trying to crank out copy and meet deadlines even though our hearts may not be in it.

3. Do engage on social media posts about layoffs. The relations part of your public relations job is so crucial … reach out to your favorite writers/editors and check in on them or watch their social media accounts for updates and respond accordingly. See how they are doing. Make us feel seen and heard. Offer to help introduce those impacted by these layoffs to editors you know or clients who need content writing (or maybe your own agency needs help with brand stories for clients or press releases and wants to outsource them to excellent writers). Share and comment on social media posts from writers/editors who are looking for work to help raise visibility and increase reach/engagement.

4. Don’t start your emails with “Hope all is well” or “Happy Thursday!” Please be sensitive in your communications … some of your favorite writers and editors have just had their lives turned upside down. And even if the person you are writing to still has their job, they could have friends/family/coworkers who are impacted. We all feel this pain … this is a small community and we are all connected.

5. Don’t expect things to publish as quickly as you’d hoped. Freelancers are scrambling to figure out if their editors are still on staff or who they can reach out to about current assignments. Remaining staff writers/editors are trying to figure out how to divvy up the intense workload amongst themselves and get all this work done with far fewer resources. Things are in flux. Things will fall through the cracks. It’s nobody’s fault, so please be patient.

6. Do inform and educate your clients. Please let your clients know what’s going on in the industry … it will help you manage their expectations. Don’t let them talk you into pushing things with writers/editors right now, as it will only damage your long-term relationships and that will ultimately damage their long-term editorial opportunities. Educate, educate, educate.

You really do have an opportunity to help make a difference here, in the lives of the writers and editors you work with every day. Let’s lean on each other to get through these dark times. And let’s pray this is the last of the layoff news for a while … this has been a LOT for November/December :(

Thank you for reading,

Jill