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Workers at VICE have 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 inside memo informing staff that the media firm would now not be publishing on its flagship information web site. “It’s now not cost-effective for us to distribute our digital content material the best way now we have carried out beforehand,” Dixon wrote. “As a part of this shift, we’ll now not publish content material on vice.com, as an alternative placing extra emphasis on our social channels as we speed up our discussions with companions to take our content material to the place it will likely be seen most broadly.”
There was extra to the gorgeous growth. “With this strategic shift comes the necessity to realign our assets and streamline our general operations at VICE,” Dixon added. “Regrettably, which means that we might be decreasing our workforce, eliminating a number of hundred positions. This resolution was not made frivolously, and I perceive the numerous affect it’ll have on these affected. Workers who might be affected might be notified about subsequent steps early subsequent week, in step with 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 protecting 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 impartial 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—Okay 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 Advanced Media being offered 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.
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