Participant Media Reins In TakePart Website, Layoffs Likely

Site is focused on environmental and social justice advocacy

Take Part Participant Media
Participant Media

Jeff Skoll’s independent film studio Participant Media will scale back its TakePart website as part of a reorganization that is expected to include several layoffs, TheWrap has learned.

TakePart is a digital division of Participant, which primarily focuses on issues of social and economic justice. As part of the reorganization, TakePart will be folded back into the main Participant brand, and resources will be reallocated toward original video and other emerging forms of reporting, such as virtual reality. TakePart currently has more than 4 million subscribers and followers across social media outlets like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

David Linde took over as CEO of Participant last year and has been reconfiguring the studio to adjust to the changing media environment. He shut down Participant’s TV station Pivot in August after just four years of operations. In October, Participant acquired actor Rainn Wilson’s SoulPancake, which produces “inspiring” content for TV and digital outlets.

TakePart’s audience peaked at 7.8 million unique visitors in February of 2015  and ebbed at 2.8 million three months later, according to data from ComScore. Last month, it had slightly more than 4 million visitors.

Participant also produced a TV show named after the site, “TakePart Live,” which debuted on PivotTV and online in August 2013 and was first hosted by Cara Santa Maria and current MSNBC correspondent Jacob Soboroff. The show was canceled the following December.

Variety first reported the news.

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