Earning a living in journalism is getting more and more difficult. Soon it will be all AI and volunteer generated. It's like Walmart, hire a bunch of cheap pay time freelancers to create content. If everyone is racing to the bottom it won't matter.
As far as the timing I'm wondering if they have over 100 employees and the WARN act needs to be followed. It's a tough call, some folks would rather know immediately to avoid unnecessary expenses. Imagine buying a bunch of gifts, taking a trip, then getting back to find out you're being fired. That's not cool either.