There’s a new listicle in BuzzFeed‘s “Community” section that explicitly says it hasn’t been vetted or endorsed by BuzzFeed‘s editorial staff.
Good thing.
The listicle by Jason Sweeten, a community contributor, dings BuzzFeed management for all those layoffs, which are continuing at the writing of this piece.
“I know it’s been a hard day,” BuzzFeed Editor-in-Chief Ben Smith wrote in a note to staff. On Friday, the site known for cat memes and occasionally more serious news stories, fired 43 journalists. The cuts are part of a plan to layoff 15 percent of the company’s employees. Staffers who have lost their jobs are making demands.
The news came barely a week after BuzzFeed‘s big alleged scoop claiming that President Trump told his former lawyer Michael Cohen to lie to Congress. Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller promptly dismissed the story as false. The site double downed on its story and said the story’s accuracy would eventually been proven to be true. That CNN interview was incredibly awkward. Even SNL mocked the site. (RELATED: BuzzFeed Maintains Bombshell Story Is True)
The pop quiz stabs at the site’s heart with a bunch of pointed questions: How long have you worked at BuzzFeed, favorite BuzzFeed memory (LOL’s anyone?) and this: “Are you proud to say you worked at BuzzFeed?”
Among the answers is this knife wound: “When I tell people at parties, ‘I work at BuzzFeed,’ their faces light up. They have so many questions. And I feel so special. What will I become when this part of my identity is stripped away?”
Another Q: “Wasn’t our holiday party lit?”
One answer blamed the company for making sloppy financial calls: “Did you know? When you were spending that money on appetizers and an open bar? Did you know that were were paying for a celebration at the expense of people’s livelihoods?”
At the end of the quiz, you find out whether you’re still employed.
Calling this one the unauthorized listicle from hell.