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Staff at VICE had been knowledgeable that the media group is stepping again from on-line information and getting ready a spherical of heavy layoffs.
On Thursday (February 22), VICE Information CEO Bruce Dixon despatched out an inner memo informing workers that the media firm would not be publishing on its flagship information web site. “It’s not cost-effective for us to distribute our digital content material the way in which now we have executed beforehand,” Dixon wrote. “As a part of this shift, we’ll not publish content material on vice.com, as a substitute placing extra emphasis on our social channels as we speed up our discussions with companions to take our content material to the place it is going to be seen most broadly.”
There was extra to the beautiful improvement. “With this strategic shift comes the necessity to realign our sources and streamline our total operations at VICE,” Dixon added. “Regrettably, which means that we might be decreasing our workforce, eliminating a number of hundred positions. This determination was not made evenly, and I perceive the numerous impression it’ll have on these affected. Staff who might be affected might be notified about subsequent steps early subsequent week, according to native legal guidelines and practices.” The strikes wouldn’t have an effect on Refinery29, with the ladies’s way of life model and web site that Vice acquired in 2019 persevering with as a standalone enterprise.
The information displays a surprising fall for VICE, which started as a publication overlaying punk rock and different music in Montreal within the Nineteen Nineties based by Suroosh Ali, Shane Smith, and Gavin McInnes who would go on to discovered the Proud Boys, the fascist group that has aligned itself with the American far-right. At its peak, the Brooklyn-based firm delivered information in a extremely unbiased format with correspondents throughout the globe along with unique programming akin to Most Expensivest hosted by 2Chainz and F—- That’s Scrumptious by Motion Bronson. The “Simple Rider” rapper took to social media on Friday, saying: “JUST WANTED TO MAKE SURE YA’LL KNOW I NEVER STOPPED MAKING F—Ok THATS DELICIOUS BECAUSE VICE IMPLODED.”
Representatives for VICE declined to remark when contacted by the press. The information comes amid a number of media teams saying their downsizing measures akin to Pitchfork and GQ, and Complicated Media being bought off to the Ntwrk e-commerce platform. They joined information shops akin to The Washington Submit, the Los Angeles Occasions, CNN, and ABC Information which had initiated their cuts in current weeks and months.
VICE Exiting On-line Information, Axing “A number of Hundred Positions”
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