Senior staffers at youth-focused publications Refinery29, Kotaku, and Gizmodo Australia have confirmed that the publications will be closing local operations, and their entire staff have been made redundant as part of the restructuring of Pedestrian Group.
Vice Australia, and Lifehacker Australia will also be closing, with local staff informed yesterday of their fate at the Nine-owned Pedestrian Group.
On Monday morning, Pedestrian Group announced the “tough decision” to transition out of its current brand licences, resulting in a number of job losses.
This means that youth-focused publications brand licences held by Pedestrian Group — popular titles like Refinery 29, Vice, Gizmodo, Lifehacker, and Kotaku — will no longer operate in this market.
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“Where possible, we will look for opportunities for redeployment and will continue to work with everyone over the coming days to support this difficult transition,” said Pedestrian Group CEO Matt Rowley, in a note to staff seen by Mumbrella.
Rowley also announced that “as a result of this change, I will also be leaving Pedestrian Group and Nine following a transition period” .
“This will have an impact on roles within the group and I appreciate the uncertainty this change creates, so we will be in contact immediately with those people,” he added.
Head of editorial at Refinery29 Australia, Zahra Campbell-Avenell, shared her team’s redundancy news on Linkedin, writing:
“It is with a heavy heart that I share the news that I, along with the rest of the Refinery29 Australia team and dozens of my colleagues at Pedestrian Group, have been made redundant.”
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Gizmodo Australia managing editor Athina Mallis confirmed on Linkedin that “Gizmodo Australia will no longer be in Australia” adding, “this is a massive blow to tech journalism in Australia.”
Campbell-Avenell wrote of Refinery29: “Building a brand, especially amidst the challenges of the 2021 lockdowns, was no easy feat. Over the past three years, I’ve had the privilege of leading the creation and growth of Refinery29 in Australia — a brand that’s like no other; amplifying underrepresented voices and telling stories that truly matter.
“We’ve achieved significant milestones, from growing our Instagram following from 0 to 25,000 and building a vibrant TikTok community with 13,000 followers, to consistently surpassing 1 million pageviews each month on our website.”
Mumbrella has contacted Nine for comment.
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