MEDIA
BuzzFeed to close news division
BuzzFeed is shutting down its namesake news division, which rose from quirky digital upstart to a Pulitzer Prize-winning operation but fell prey to the punishing economics of digital publishing that has laid low many of its peers. It’s a sobering end for a pioneering publication once seen as a serious challenger to legacy media outlets that had been slow to adapt to the Internet, and closes the final chapter of a venture capital-fueled digital era that left an indelible mark on how journalism is produced and consumed. When BuzzFeed News was founded in 2011, in the run-up to the 2012 presidential election, it explored stories both slight and serious through listicles and click-bait-style headlines designed to go viral on social media. That mirrored the practice of its parent company, an Internet laboratory of sorts that Jonah Peretti started in 2006. The news operation soon drew attention for its ambitious, sharp reporting, however, and went on to open overseas bureaus and invest in investigative reporting. But for all its accomplishments, the news division failed to make money, unable to square the reliance on digital advertising and the whims of social media traffic with the considerable costs of employing journalists. — NEW YORK TIMES
CELLPHONES
T-Mobile offers to buy new subscribers out of contracts with rivals
T-Mobile is offering to buy mobile subscribers out of their three-year contracts with rival carriers, tossing in a new phone and promising a shorter commitment in an effort to lure new customers. The US’s second-largest wireless company says it will pay off the phone contracts for people willing to switch their service. As part of the limited time promotion, T-Mobile will also provide them with new phones on a 24-month, no-payment plan. — BLOOMBERG NEWS
REAL ESTATE
Spring home sales off to a slow start
The spring homebuying season in the United States is off to a tepid start as buyers contend with sharply higher mortgage rates and near historic-low inventory of properties on the market. Existing US home sales fell 2.4 percent last month from February to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.44 million, the National Association of Realtors said Thursday. That’s below the 4.5 million home sales economists were expecting, according to FactSet. Sales slumped 22 percent compared with March last year. The annual drop was steepest in markets across the Western part of the country, where sales sank more than 30 percent from a year ago. The national median home price slipped 0.9 percent from March of last year to $375,700, the NAR said. That’s the biggest annual median home price drop since January 2012. — ASSOCIATED PRESS
TECHNOLOGY
Huawei develops software to avoid US versions
Huawei has developed enterprise IT management software that can replace Oracle’s, taking another step toward reducing its reliance on US tech. The telecom gear maker, which can’t use American technology without a license, is developing in-house software and chips to shake off the effects of being placed on a US trade blacklist. The replacement is in line with Beijing’s desire to cast off dependencies on foreign suppliers and develop self-sufficiency in key technologies. — BLOOMBERG NEWS
INTERNATIONAL
EU orders Italy to open up process of running beaches
The European Union’s top court ordered Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government to open up the running of thousands of beaches to competition, after licenses worth billions of euros in revenue were doled out for years without fair bidding processes. On Thursday, the EU Court of Justice said Italian beach concessions can’t be renewed automatically, and should be assigned with a competitive mechanism of tenders, adding pressure on the government to make changes that have been demanded for years. — BLOOMBERG NEWS
E-COMMERCE
Amazon loses appeal over antitrust probes
Amazon lost its appeal of a move by European Union antitrust regulators to allow for parallel EU and Italian antitrust probes into how the e-commerce giant may have unfairly treated some sellers on its platform. The EU Court of Justice, the bloc’s top tribunal, dismissed Amazon’s challenge in a final ruling that can’t be appealed. Amazon had objected to a European Commission decision to allow Italy to continue to run its own probe into the “buy box” — where Amazon highlights sellers of a particular product — after the EU’s antitrust arm started to examine the same issue. — BLOOMBERG NEWS
TRUCKS
Volvo’s orders up more than 30 percent
Volvo raised its forecasts as the world’s second biggest truckmaker saw orders increase 32 percent. Pent-up need to replace aging fleets has buoyed demand, noticeably “on the truck side, where order intake rose as we gradually opened the order books for the second half,” Volvo chief executive Martin Lundstedt said in a statement. The upbeat start to the year followed persistent parts shortages finally easing, after the company resorted to restricting new orders to help manage customer wait times and cost inflation. — BLOOMBERG NEWS
CREDIT CARDS
Amex sets aside more than $1 billion for possibly bad loans
American Express said its first-quarter profits fell by 13 percent from a year ago despite record quarterly revenue as the credit card company had to set aside more than $1 billion for potentially bad loans. The noticeable increase in loan loss reserves reflect the uncertain direction of where the economy is heading for many banks. AmEx’s biggest credit card competitors also set aside money to cover potentially bad loans and have talked about how consumers are now carrying higher balances and aren’t paying off their cards. — ASSOCIATED PRESS
TIRES
Michelin recalling snow tires that may not grip well in the snow
Michelin is recalling more than 542,000 snow tires in the United States because they don’t have enough traction to work in all snowy conditions. The recall covers certain Agilis CrossClimate C-Metric tires that Michelin says don’t meet US safety standards. The tiremaker says in documents posted Thursday by safety regulators that tires without sufficient traction can increase the risk of a crash. Dealers will replace the tires at no cost to owners. Owners will get interim notification letters starting June 12. They’ll get another letter once the replacements are available. The company says initial tire testing was done with the wrong tire pressure. Later tests by Michelin discovered the problem. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has posted a document with the tire sizes on its website. — ASSOCIATED PRESS
