In a 10.9 q & a with Jay Penske, L.A. Times guy Ben Fritz notes that “many staffers at Variety are understandably nervous about what [Penske Media’s] purchase means for them,” and asks Penske, “Do you expect there will be layoffs or staffing changes? Do you intend to invest in the editorial side of Variety?”
Penske’s reply: “We are not buying Variety to gut the newsroom, we are buying the business to build it. Are there going to be changes? Yes. Do we want to reduce our dependency on print revenues? Yes. How quickly can that happen? We’ll know more in the coming months.”
