Vox Media this week announced another round of staffing cuts, eliminating 15 positions nationwide and striking a major blow to its Eater network. The layoffs, confirmed on August 7, hit local digital outlets across the country, including Vegas Eater, where editor Janna Karel lost her job.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• 15 layoffs announced August 7 across Vox Media’s Eater network

• Vegas Eater editor Janna Karel among those affected

• Cuts follow a previous round earlier in 2024 that reduced Eater’s cities network

• Union says layoffs eliminate about one-third of Eater’s union jobs

• Vox Media cites long-term business strategy for restructuring

• Eater is celebrating its 20th anniversary amid the staff cuts

Karel confirmed the news in an Instagram post.

“I was impacted by a round of mass layoffs yesterday. Vegas Eater no longer has an Editor,” she wrote.

She called covering Las Vegas restaurants a privilege, adding:

“Las Vegas is one of the most exceptional food cities around — even if the rest of the world is still catching up. I’m sad for me. I’m sad for my bright, bold, brilliant coworkers — some of whom were laid off, some navigating yet another shift away from the version of Eater I loved.”

Karel noted this was the second major round of layoffs at Eater this year. She described the move as one that “eliminates roughly a third of Eater’s union jobs” and criticized the company’s direction.

“It is also a cowardly capitulation to the fallacious insistence that generative AI is the future of search and publishing,” she wrote. “We are devastated that our colleagues have lost their jobs, and we are deeply worried about the future sustainability of Eater without them.”

Another Eater employee based in Las Vegas confirmed being laid off but declined further comment. Sources familiar with the restructuring said the cuts also reached Texas, Chicago, and other major cities.

The Vox Media Union Committees released a statement condemning the move.

“Today, 15 members of the Vox Media Union working at Eater were notified without warning that their jobs were being eliminated as part of a major restructuring of the 20-year-old brand,” the statement read.

The union said the decision was especially surprising given remarks by Vox Media CEO Jim Bankoff just a week earlier, when he told Puck’s Dylan Byers that he did not anticipate any impending layoffs.

“But, of course, we’ve learned that we cannot trust Jim Bankoff’s word when it comes to layoffs,” the union added. “We will have more information forthcoming about ways to support our laid-off colleagues in the coming days.”

In a statement issued Friday, Vox Media defended the decision, saying Eater remains committed to its audience.

“Eater is committed to operating all current Eater sites and continuing its best-in-class restaurant recommendations, local dining news, national tastemaking, and trade coverage across all the places that audiences can currently find us: on the sites, on social platforms, via our newsletters, in the app, and more,” the company said.

The representative added that the layoffs were part of a restructuring intended to “reorient the business around our long-term strategy” and ensure sustainability.

This is not the first time Vox Media has made deep cuts to its lifestyle and culture brands. In December, the company announced layoffs affecting Eater, Thrillist, and PS (formerly PopSugar). The union later said those reductions had “essentially shuttered” Thrillist.

The recent layoffs also come during what was supposed to be a celebratory year for Eater, which is marking its 20th anniversary. Instead, the newsroom faces uncertainty over staffing and coverage capabilities.

Industry data shows the media job market remains turbulent. According to PR Newswire, at least 3,875 layoffs have been reported across newspapers, broadcast, and digital media in 2024 alone.

The latest cuts at Vox Media underscore the mounting pressures facing digital media outlets as they adapt to shifting business models, evolving audience habits, and the growing influence of generative AI in publishing. For Eater, the loss of seasoned local editors like Janna Karel raises questions about the brand’s ability to maintain its hallmark city-specific coverage. As the industry contends with continued layoffs and restructuring, the challenge will be balancing financial sustainability with preserving the editorial depth and local expertise that built these outlets’ reputations in the first place.