Despite strong results reported by media companies like Estado and Editora Abril, the layoffs of journalists in São Paulo already total 207 this year.
Thirty-two journalists were laid off Tuesday (March 1) from the newsrooms of Aventuras na História (Adventures in History) and Vida Simples (Simple Lives) magazines, both belonging to Editora Abril.
The president of the Union of Professional Journalists of São Paulo State, Guto Camargo, called the layoffs unjustifiable, given that Grupo Abril reported profits.
Before Abril, the Estadão news company laid off 22 people from its print and online versions. In a statement to the media site Portal Comunique-se, the content director of Grupo Estado, Ricardo Gandour, explained that the layoffs were made to reduce expenses.
Less than a month ago, TV Cultura announced that it was dismissing 150 employees (10 percent of its staff) in order to restructure the network, upgrade programming, cut costs, and invest in new programs. According to sources of O Globo newspaper, João Sayad, the new president of TV Cultura, wants to reduce the production of its own programs and to dismiss up to 1,400 of its current 1,900 employees.
Note from the editor: This story was originally published by the Knight Center’s blog Journalism in the Americas, the predecessor of LatAm Journalism Review.
