First Look Media laid off at least 18 employees on Wednesday, including five reporters from investigative news outlet The Intercept—one of whom played a pivotal role in reporting on multiple scandals involving the National Security Agency.first reported
Founded in 2013 by eBay creator Pierre Omidyar, First Look Media houses not only The Intercept but also the Press Freedom Defense Fund, a nonprofit media support group, as well as documentary film studio Field of Vision, and for-profit content studio Topic Studio and streaming service Topic. “Senior leadership was forced to make an impossible decision and we lost an excellent reporter in Alleen Brown as well as a dedicated video producer and more. Now, further staff positions aren’t able to be back-filled. Bloom’s email to the staff uses the pandemic—this act of god—as a scapegoat while the real blame lies with himself, an apparently failing subscription video on demand service, an expensive office, and the board's demand for skulls,” she added.