News site Axios announced Wednesday that it had qualified for a small-business loan as part of the economic stimulus passed amid the coronavirus outbreak.
In a blog post, editor Jim VandeHei indicated that the company was suffering financially because of the hit to its events business and the hit to advertising caused by the economic fallout from the pandemic.
“We are in the somewhat unique position of being both a media company, which covers government and business, and a job-creating small business with a national presence. So we wanted to be fully transparent about our thinking,” VandeHei wrote.
“We have taken a financial hit like other small businesses,” he added. “The media, broadly speaking, is getting crushed by the economic fallout.”
VandeHei went on to add that the company had qualified for a loan from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) valued at “just shy of $5 million,” and pledged that Axios would make that clear in its future reporting on the economic stimulus packages.
“This loan ensures we can avoid layoffs and pay cuts for our almost 200-person staff for the rest of the year, regardless of how much the overall economy deteriorates,” VandeHei wrote.
The Senate on Tuesday passed a $484 billion package to replenish the PPP after money from the initial fund ran out quickly. The bill will now move to the House.
The second injection comes amid anger over reports that some larger corporations were able to tap the PPP loans, leaving out some smaller businesses.