From a story on niemanlab.org by Luke Winkie headlined “More digital media companies want to go public. Can their newsrooms survive?”:

Many of the members of BuzzFeed’s newsroom feel as if they were sold a bill of goods.

The digital media stalwart opened itself to the stock market in late 2021, reposturing itself as the torchbearer for the rest of its startup peers. Vice, Vox, and Bustle all flirted with the idea of public investment to varying degrees over the years, but BuzzFeed was among the first to take the plunge, latching onto an SPAC deal, and selling shares of itself for $10 at the opening bell.