BuzzFeed has announced it will end its Australian news production “both for economic and strategic reasons”.

The online media organisation said it would end its UK news output as well as its Australian coverage.

The website said the decision was made to cut back local news in favour of US coverage.

“Both for economic and strategic reasons, we are going to focus on news that hits big in the United States during this difficult period,” a BuzzFeed representative said.

“Therefore, we will notify staff in the UK and Australia that we are not planning to cover local news in those countries.

“We will be consulting with employees on our plans regarding furloughs and stand-downs in these regions.”

The spokesperson added that the company will retain some employees who cover “news with a global audience” including social and celebrity news, in addition to investigations.

BuzzFeed, which was launched in the US in 2006, attempted a major overseas expansion in recent years but subsequently made some cutbacks.