The Globe hired three people to produce a podcast — then canceled the podcast

The Boston Globe hired three people to produce a new weekly podcast and then decided to cancel it. Jennifer Smith of CommonWealth Beacon reports:

The final hires quit their former jobs, packed up their bags and pets, and schlepped to Boston from across the country or prepared to make the move. In late July, however, Globe management communicated that the organization would not be moving forward with the project after all.

Yikes! Fortunately, Globe management is trying to find new jobs for the three. One will write for “a new flagship newsletter” that will launch this fall, editor Nancy Barnes told staff members at a town hall-style gathering on Monday.

Smith’s sources said that Barnes and Globe CEO Linda Henry stressed that the media business is moving away from podcasting. That’s true — like a lot of digital media innovations, podcasting has proved to be great for distributing your content but a lousy way to make money.

What’s unclear is why Globe executives let these hires go so far down the road before pulling the plug.