Given their appalling regularity these days, media layoffs have begun to take on the character of a grim ritual that follows a now all-too-familiar pattern. With great pomp, a big industry player, media baron, or venture capitalist will announce a bold new merger or acquisition, often promising to rescue or streamline a flailing venture. Within a few years, or sometimes a mere few months, this chirpy PR will suddenly give way to the language of hardheaded financial calculus, after which a spate of layoffs invariably follows.

In this respect, the devastating closures and layoffs announced earlier this week by the Huffington Post struck quite a few familiar notes. Acquired late last year by BuzzFeed, the company will not so much be shedding talent as hemorrhaging it: some forty-seven jobs being axed across the United States while Canada’s fully bilingual arm will be shuttered altogether and cuts loom for its staff in Australia. BuzzFeed’s 2020 acquisition of the Huffington Post from Verizon Media came barely five years after its sale by AOL, which itself purchased the outlet in 2011.

A few short months ago BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti (who last year bought himself an estate in Los Feliz valued at $5.2 million) was all smiles about the move. “I have vivid memories of growing HuffPost into a major news outlet in its early years,” said Paretti in a November statement. “BuzzFeed is making this acquisition because we believe in the future of HuffPost and the potential it has to continue to define the media landscape for years to come. With the addition of HuffPost, our media network will have more users, spending significantly more time with our content than any of our peers.”