Sun and Daily Mail publishers cut jobs in US digital operations

The publishers of the Sun and the Daily Mail are cutting jobs in their American digital operations amid financial pressure on the industry.

News UK, the publisher of the Sun, and DMGT, the owner of the Mail, this week announced internal restructuring of their online divisions, Sky News reported.

DMGT launched Dailymail.com in the US in 2010. The Guardian understands that the number of job losses in the Mail’s US newsroom, which employs 200 people in New York, is in the mid teens.

A spokesperson for Associated Newspapers, a subsidiary of DMGT, said: “We have made a small number of job cuts in some areas of our US editorial department. This was a difficult, but necessary decision, which will enable us to continue to invest in areas where we can grow our audience.”

The Sun launched an American edition online in January 2020 and it is thought to employ about 100 people.

A News UK spokesperson said: “The US Sun has been an incredibly successful business, driving billions of page views; however, the digital landscape has experienced seismic change in the last 12 months and we need to reset the strategy and resize the team to secure the long-term, sustainable future for the Sun’s business in the US.”

A source close to News UK denied suggestions that 80% of jobs would be cut, saying it was a significantly smaller percentage and that the restructuring would give more prominence to video journalism.