Buzzfeed is reporting that YouTube star and media entrepreneur Casey Neistat is leaving CNN. The news company purchased Neistat's company, Beme, back in 2016 in a deal that was said to be around $25 million, and that too is said to be shutting down. According to Buzzfeed many of Beme's 22 employees will find work inside of CNN, but there may be some layoffs.
This was not unexpected in media circles, not because of Neistat's messaging, but CNN's. There was talk of "revolutionizing" the video news business, and conversations like that are still happening inside my company today, just as an example. And even though Neistat was a journalist in past gigs, and despite his success on YouTube, it's a little unreasonable to expect him to singlehandedly get youngsters to like CNN. Shifting brand perception is something that takes years and millions of dollars—a lot more than $25 million dollars.
I'm glad Neistat decided to go this way. The news business is brutal and not terribly lucrative.
Here's his announcement on YouTube:
