A major Paramount division announced Tuesday it will shutter MTV News and slash its US workforce by 25%, bringing to an end the iconic music video network’s news division that once covered a range of issues from pop culture to politics and became a household name for Generation X and Millennial adolescents.
The decision to shut down MTV News, which had already been significantly scaled down in recent years, comes less than a month after BuzzFeed announced it would eliminate its award-winning news division and Vice Media canceled its acclaimed “Vice News Tonight” as part of a broad restructuring. MTV News’ meteoric rise began in the 1980s when Rolling Stone editor-turned-TV host Kurt Loder joined the network and launched its “The Week in Rock” program, as well as other specials.