Read on Twitter
Actually Automattic, the company that currently owns Longreads, cut our funding so much in January that they've laid off the entire research team, including myself. Plus a lot of others. They've essentially tanked the publication, and it's been a shame to see and not talk about. https://twitter.com/susie_c/status/1263857151027507205
I'm not entirely sure why we haven't really talked about it. For me, it was out of respect for @reportermike and many others on the team, but Automattic shouldn't really get to ride off Longreads's reputation like this.
They also used a permalancer system that 1) is completely unethical and 2) absolutely allowed them to shear off workers without severance etc. once they decided to cut funding
In September, about four months before they cut our funding, they were valued at $3 billion. Really good! https://techcrunch.com/2019/09/19/automattic-raises-300-million-at-3-billion-valuation-from-salesforce-ventures/
In conclusion,
