Amid Layoffs and Buyouts, The Daily Beast Wants Brian Stelter
New leadership wants to hire splashier names despite financial struggles.
Despite more than a third of The Daily Beast staff set to be made redundant, new leaders Joanna Coles and Ben Sherwood are looking to lure ex-CNN media reporter Brian Stelter to lead their media coverage, in a bid to raise interest in the struggling outlet.
Stelter is currently a special correspondent at Vanity Fair, and hosts a podcast for them. He declined to comment when the New York Post asked about the Beast’s interest in him.
This week, the edgy outlet offered voluntary buyouts to its 37 unionized staffers, and about 30% are expected to grab the lifeline before it expires in mid-June. The buyout package would give the average Beast employee who has been at the company between two and four years roughly three to four months of pay.
Legendary media mogul Barry Diller hired Coles and Sherwood to slash costs and resuscitate The Daily Beast, after his attempts to sell it off failed.