Mar 24, 2021 - Economy

BuzzFeed names Danielle Belton editor-in-chief of HuffPost

BuzzFeed

BuzzFeed named Danielle Belton its new editor-in-chief of HuffPost on Wednesday.

Why it matters: The announcement comes shortly after BuzzFeed said it laid off 47 employees from HuffPost following its acquisition of the progressive news site in February. Belton is presently the editor-in-chief of The Root.

Details: BuzzFeed said Belton will report to Mark Schoofs, editor-in-chief of BuzzFeed News, per a statement detailing the announcement.

  • Schoofs "will be removed from the day-to-day of the HuffPost newsroom but remain an advocate for news overall on BuzzFeed’s executive team."
  • Richard Kim will continue to serve as executive editor of HuffPost under Belton.
  • The Daily Beast broke the news about the hire earlier on Wednesday.

The big picture: Belton takes over amid a point of transition for the 16-year-old media brand. Its former editor-in-chief Lydia Polgreen left the outlet to become head of content at Gimlet, a podcast studio owned by Spotify, last March.

  • In the statement, BuzzFeed says HuffPost now has more than 115 journalists.
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