MTV News Website Archives Pulled Offline

The MTV News website has been officially pulled from the internet, effectively removing over two decades of music journalism stories, features and other investigations.Variety reports that sister site, CMT.com, appears to have lost a significant amount of content, but is still operational. When trying to access MTVNews.com from a browser, users are redirected to MTV.com.[inlink id="mtv-news-ends-after-36-years-due-to-paramount-layoffs" text="In May 2023"], it was announced that MTV News would end after 36 years due to ongoing layoffs at parent company Paramount Global. The news division of MTV was one of the casualties from the merger involving Paramount Media Networks, Showtime and MTV Entertainment Studios. At the time, it was announced there would be layoffs of 25% of the total workforce of those three companies.A month prior to the announcement of MTV News shutting down, Buzzfeed announced layoffs of 15% of its staff. Among those layoffs was the entire BuzzFeed News division, which officially shut down on May 5, 2023. Its final story published was an oral history about the division.MTV News first began in 1987 with the show The Week in Rock. The program was hosted by Kurt Loder, which was one of the division's most popular correspondents. MTV News had a number of notable correspondents in its 36-year run. Among them were John Norris, SuChin Pak, Sway Calloway, Serena Altschul, Chris Connelly, Tabitha Soren, Gideon Yago and more. Reactions to the MTV News Website Being Removed From the Internet Understandably, many reporters and other members of the media are devastated about the loss of over two decades of music journalism from the internet. Unsurprisingly, many took to X (formerly Twitter) to pay tribute to MTV News and vent their frustrations.Entertainment Weekly news director Jillian Sederholm wrote, "Wiping a news brand and its full archive from existence is deleting historical records, with MTV News that’s decades of music & youth culture history. A huge loss to society, future research and devastatingly cruel to journalists who suddenly have no record of all their hard work."Music journalist and author Sowmya Krishnamurthy wrote, "During its heyday, MTV News would be covering Kendrick vs. Drake, Israel/Palestine and the election The kids don’t realize how important it was."Former MTV News music editor Patrick Hosken wrote, "So, MTVnews.com no longer exists. Eight years of my life are gone without a trace. All because it didn't fit some executives' bottom lines. Infuriating is too small a word."Hosken's post was the first of a five-part thread, in which he noted, "I got let go over a year ago. Why didn't I archive more of my stories? Between looking for new jobs, being a dad, living life, etc it simply never stayed at the top of the to-do list. That sucks, and I have myself to blame. But also, f--- that, man."Perhaps "F--- that, man" is truly the most succinct way to describe this whole situation and serves as a reminder of how well multiple generations had it with an outlet like MTV News. The entire media landscape is ever-changing, but what never changes is the importance of reporting on youth culture and the issues that matter most to younger generations, which is especially important this election year.