Fairfax Media and news website HuffPost Australia have called time on their joint venture, leaving the jobs of dozens of staff in doubt.
Staff from HuffPost Australia have taken to social media lamenting the decision which comes just two years after the website's American parent Huffington Post teamed up with Fairfax to launch a local version of the news site.
"Every day of the past 2 years has been a joy thanks to the @HuffPostAU team. Talent, passion and integrity," editor-in-chief Tory Maguire tweeted.
A spokesperson for HuffPost Australia said the website's 31 staff had been briefed about the decision to bring the Australian joint venture to an end.
"HuffPost will operate a standalone Australian edition from December 1 with a smaller local team," the spokesperson said.
"If redeployment is not possible, regrettably redundancies will occur."
HuffPost Australia launched in August 2015 and was hailed a milestone in the global expansion by its parent company.
The Huffington Post owned 51 per cent of the joint venture, while Fairfax - publisher of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age - held 49 per cent, under a similar model to that used by HuffPost in other countries.
The Huffington Post was founded in the US in 2005 by businesswoman and commentator Arianna Huffington and grew to become one of the most popular sites in America with local editions in 14 countries.
The site was sold to internet giant AOL in 2011 for $US315 million.
Huffington herself left the news site in August last year, about a year after media giant Verizon took control of the business through its $US4.4 billion takeover of AOL.
