(Reuters)
Glenn Beck’s struggling media project the Blaze will be conducting mass layoffs in a bid to “keep pace with the massive changes” in the media industry.
“Today, we said goodbye to just over 20 percent of the combined workforce of Mercury Radio Arts and the Blaze,” Beck said in a statement Thursday regarding his television and internet operation.
“We are losing a lot of talented and committed colleagues, who are some of the best human beings I know — some have been friends of mine for 30 years.”
The Blaze has been struggling to attract a TV audience due to virtually no distribution deals with major cable companies, the Hill reported.
The latest round of layoffs were motivated by the need to “keep pace with the massive changes” in the media business, Beck wrote.
“To change that, we needed to become more nimble and drastically adjust our approach to keep pace with the massive changes unfolding before us,” he added.
“We are not PBS,” he said. “No government institution is going to write us a giant check. The structural challenges facing media companies today are real; but, when someone — anyone — tells me that something can’t be done, it only makes me more determined to prove them wrong.”
"We are not PBS. No government institution is going to write us a giant check."
The Blaze founder also pointed out that although he was awarded the Tribeca Disruptive Innovation Award in 2013, he believes that today, “I don’t believe I would finish in the top 100.”
By various estimations, the Blaze was thought to have 150 employees at the beginning of last year, but the number is likely lower as 40 employees were ousted last year, the Daily Beast reported.
The Blaze got off to a rocky start in 2017 when Beck became embroiled in a dispute with contributor Tomi Lahren, after Lahren appeared on ABC's "The View" in March and said she was pro-choice. Lahren was eventually fired, but recently joined Fox News Channel.
Beck, 53, launched the Blaze after leaving the Fox News Channel in 2011.
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