Layoffs at International Biz Times hit biz/tech desks hard

Layoffs at the International Business Times on Thursday have claimed the entire media and culture and tech news teams, along with business news and graphics, multiple sources have confirmed to Talking Biz News.

Among those laid off were:

• Roland Jones, the business editor. He joined from Fortune, where he was senior editor for News, managing all news coverage for the digital brand. Roland was previously a senior editor at NBC News Digital for almost a decade, and prior to that worked at TheStreet.com, where he covered Internet technology and personal finance.
• Maria Gallucci, an energy and environment reporter. She previously covered the clean-energy economy at InsideClimate News and also worked as a reporter in Mexico City until 2011. She holds a journalism degree from Ohio University’s E.W. Scripps School of Journalism.
• David Gilbert, the European technology editor at the International Business Times, specializing in covering the global smartphone industry and the dangerous world of  cybercrime. Gilbert worked as the technology editor for the UK edition of IBTimes for over three-and-a-half years, winning the prestigious Digital Writer of the Year award at the Online Media Awards in 2013.
• Matt Pressberg, who covered the business of entertainment and Los Angeles. He was previously a finance reporter and managing editor at the Los Angeles Business Journal, and before that worked as a private equity analyst. Pressberg also wrote occasionally about gun violence. He is a graduate of Georgetown University and the Annenberg School of Communication & Journalism at the University of Southern California.
• Owen Davis, who was reporting on Wall Street and finance.
• Kerry Flynn, a technology reporter focused on social media companies, mobile apps and startups and how they affect areas of life such as the 2016 U.S. presidential election, entertainment and news reporting. Prior, she wrote for The Huffington Post, Forbes and Money magazine.
• Ned Resnikoff, the political capital reporter for International Business Times, where he covered the intersection of money and politics. He was previously a reporter for Al Jazeera America and msnbc.
• Oriana Schwindt covered the business of television for the media, tech, and culture team. She has been plotting her House of Cards-style ascension to Ruler of All Television since she was 13, and she has yet to meet a low-rated TV show she didn’t like.
• Michael Learmonth, a writer, editor and commentator on technology, media and advertising. Prior to International Business Times he served in a variety of writing and editing roles at Advertising Age, Business Insider, Variety, Reuters, The Industry Standard and Metro Newspaper in Silicon Valley. In addition, he served as an advisor on content and strategy for Internet Week New York.
• Lauren Lyons Cole, who was the personal finance editor. She was hired in November. Before IBT, Lyons Cole was a personal finance contributor for TheStreet.com. Her financial planning career began at a Manhattan-based wealth management firm, which she later left to create her own firm.
• Eric Markowitz, an award-winning journalist and the senior writer. He covered technology, crime, and police.
• Joel Warner, a Denver, Colorado-based staff writer covering the marijuana industry. Previously he was a staff writer at Westword newspaper, and his work has also appeared in WIRED, Slate, Men’s Health, Bloomberg Businessweek, Popular Science, Men’s Journal, Grantland and elsewhere. He is co-author of the 2014 book The Humor Code: A Global Search for What Makes Things Funny.
• Max Willens is a staff writer. He has written about the economics of entertainment and culture for Wired, Advertising Age, Crain’s New York Business and The Village Voice. He is a proud graduate of the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism.
• Christopher Zara is the deputy editor of media and culture. He joined IBT in June 2012. He was previously managing editor of Show Business, a magazine for New York City’s performing arts industry. His writing has also appeared in the Independent, Salon, Newsweek, Mental Floss, Emmy magazine and elsewhere.