Vice Media

Founding and early years (1994–2005)

Vice Media founders Shane Smith, Suroosh Alvi, and Gavin McInnes^[21] launched the magazine Voice of Montreal in October 1994 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada with government funding, to cover music, art, trends and drug culture not covered in print.^[22] The magazine was an alternative to the Montreal Mirror, then perceived as too mainstream by the Montreal alternative English-speaking scene. During the 1990s, Montreal's Plateau Mont-Royal/Mile-End neighbourhood was home to a burgeoning subculture with the advent of collectives such as Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Dummies Theatre, Bran Van 3000 and later Arcade Fire.^[23][24]

They changed the name to Vice in 1996, and as the magazine became more successful, the company began to find it difficult to scale their operations while based in Canada.^[25] Following an investment of $4 million by Canadian investor Richard Szalwinski, Vice relocated to New York City in 1999. In 2001, the co-founders bought Vice back and moved to new offices in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.^[26] The magazine continued to gain attention and readership due to its content, commentary, and contributions from photographers Terry Richardson and Ryan McGinley. The magazine then rapidly expanded internationally, with Andrew Creighton and Andy Capper co-founding the UK division of Vice. The magazine then expanded further into five continents.

Digital expansion (2006–2011)

In 2006, on the advice of creative director Spike Jonze, Vice began expanding into digital video, launching new video service VBS.tv as a joint venture with MTV Networks.^[27][28] VBS gained a fan base with shows like The Vice Guide To Travel, Epicly Later'd, Toxic and Hamilton's Pharmacopeia.^[29] The documentaries on the channel featured unusual subjects, and were hosted by young people working at Vice Media, often the founders themselves.

In 2007, Vice Media began aggressively expanding its digital video operation, launching new channels, such as Motherboard (tech), Noisey (music), and The Creators Project, an arts/technology site founded in partnership with Intel. Vice Media would later launch sites around electronic music culture (Thump), global news (Vice News), food (Munchies) and sports (Vice Sports). Additionally, Vice Media launched Virtue Worldwide, a creative services agency, to expand their capabilities for work around their platforms.^[30] During this time, Santiago Stelley was the director of content of VBS.tv (2006–2010) and creative director of Vice Media (2010–2012).^[31]

In January 2008, co-founder Gavin McInnes left Vice Media due to "creative differences" with the company,^[12] and founded the website streetcarnage.com. He later co-founded Rooster, an advertising agency and became a far-right activist, founding the Proud Boys.^[32]

According to Columbia Journalism Review, Vice has altered shots during the editing process in pursuit of more entertaining or impressive scenes. In a 2011 documentary on Libya, a voiceover from the reporter claim that he had gone to the frontlines amidst an offensive, while a source claims he did not make the trip, with only a cameraman going there.^[33]

Ongoing history (2012–present)

In 2012, Vice Media continued to expand its coverage focused around news and current events.

With the end of VBS.tv, Vice began releasing films like UK's Scariest Debt Collector, Swansea Love Story, World's Scariest Drug, and Inside the Superhuman World of the Iceman through their main website and YouTube channel, as well as new series like Slutever, Fringes, Love Industry and High Society.^[34] Like previous Vice content, their online films and series almost always featured on-screen hosts such as Thomas Morton, Ryan Duffy, Matt Shea, Karley Sciortino, Charlet Duboc, and Krishna Andavolu.

In mid-August 2013, Rupert Murdoch's 21st Century Fox invested US$70 million in Vice Media, resulting in a 5 percent stake. Following the announcement, Smith explained, "We have set ourselves up to build a global platform but we have maintained control."^[35]

In 2013 Vice Media premiered a new 30-minute news program for HBO titled Vice, executive produced by Bill Maher. In 2014, the second season of the show won a Creative Arts Emmy Award for Outstanding Informational Series or Special in the 66th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards.^[36]

In 2014, Vice Media launched its news channel, Vice News, which almost immediately gained global attention for its coverage of protests and conflict in Ukraine and Venezuela. As of October 2014, the editor of BBC Radio 1's Newsbeat claimed the BBC was "playing catch-up" to Vice News.^[37]

Vice Media has routinely advocated for their "immersionist" brand of journalism in the pursuit of more authentic and interesting stories. Their founders and editors have regularly garnered controversy from the likes of The New York Times' David Carr, who bristled in an exchange with Shane Smith in the 2011 documentary Page One: Inside the New York Times. In a 2014 Time column, Carr said that Vice had since grown into a strong news entity. In August 2014, Carr published a New York Times column further reversing his earlier criticism of Vice, saying, "Being the crusty old-media scold felt good at the time, but recent events suggest that Vice is deadly serious about doing real news that people, yes, even young people, will actually watch."^[38]

On 2 July 2014, Vice Media announced that it would be relocating into a warehouse space in Williamsburg that had been occupied by the independent arts spaces and concert venues 285 Kent, Death by Audio, and Glasslands, among others. Utilizing various means, Vice and the building property owners facilitated the clearance of the building and the displacement of the existing creative tenants.^[39] Vice spent US$20 million to renovate the 60,000-square-foot (5,600 m²) building as part of an eight-year lease,^[40] facilitating the establishment of new production facilities with full broadcast capabilities, and received an offer of US$6.5 million in tax credits from New York state's Empire State Development.^[41]

In August 2014, A&E Networks, a television group jointly owned by The Walt Disney Company and Hearst Corporation, made a US$250-million investment in Vice Media for an ownership stake of 10%.^[42] In November and December 2015, Disney made two additional individual investments of US$200 million totalling $400 million.^[43][44]

On 26 March 2015, HBO announced it would renew its contract to broadcast the weekly Vice documentary series for four years, while expanding the annual broadcast schedule from 14 to nearly 30 episodes.^[45] The network also announced Vice would be launching a nightly news program. The show, entitled Vice News Tonight, premiered 10 October 2016 and was planned to run 48 weeks each year, featuring pre-edited video and graphics segments covering global news, technology, the environment, economics and pop culture, while eschewing the use of live TV anchors.^{[16][17][18][46]}

In November 2015, Vice and A&E Networks announced Viceland, a then-upcoming cable network that would feature Vice-produced content.^[47][48][49]

On 14 March 2017, Vice announced an expanded original programming deal with Snap Inc. The new deal builds on VICE's previous deal to serve as a 2015 global launch partner on the Snapchat Discover platform. The first program planned under the new deal is Hungry Hearts with Action Bronson, starring the titular rapper.^[50] Also in March 2017, Vice announced a wide range of content deals which would make its programming available in more than 80 territories by the end of 2017.^[51]

On 23 December 2017, The New York Times reported that there have been four settlements involving allegations of sexual harassment or defamation against Vice employees. In addition, over twenty other women stated that they had experienced or witnessed sexual misconduct, including unwanted kisses, groping, lewd remarks and propositions for sex, at the company. In a statement provided to The New York Times, Vice co-founders Shane Smith and Suroosh Alvi said, "from the top down, we have failed as a company to create a safe and inclusive workplace where everyone, especially women, can feel respected and thrive."^[52][53][54] In January 2018 Vice's COO/CFO Sarah Broderick sent a memo to staff on 2 January 2018 announcing Creighton had volunteered to go on temporary leave whilst a new investigation into a $135,000 settlement from a case the company paid in 2016 to a former employee who alleged she was fired after turning him down, and the suspension of Mike Germano, who has served as chief digital officer. Germano founded Carrot Creative, which was acquired by Vice in 2013; he has been accused of pulling a former colleague onto his lap at a company party, as well as telling his former strategist Amanda Rue he originally didn't want to hire her "because he wanted to have sex with her."^[55] The investigation on Creighton found the allegation was without merit. Vice has also been criticized by current and former employees for featuring work by Terry Richardson, a photographer facing accusations of sexual abuse by multiple models.^[56] In another documentary, a former female employee covering a story about sex workers in a developing country said Vice attempted to "sensationalize and exploit" the women depicted. In one occasion, producers requested her to go undercover as a prostitute, which she refused. She also remarks being oriented to swear more while on camera.^[33]

In March 2018, Vice Media co-founder Shane Smith announced he was transitioning out as CEO and would take on the new title of Executive Chairman. Former A+E Networks CEO Nancy Dubuc succeeded Smith as CEO.^[57] "Smith will now be focused on creating content and strategic deals and partnerships to help grow the company."^[58]

In June 2017, Vice secured a $450 million investment from private-equity firm TPG Capital to increase spending on scripted programming and ongoing international expansion. As a result of the deal, Vice Media was valued at $5.7 billion.^[59] In September 2018, Disney wrote down its investment in Vice by $157 million. Disney acquired Fox's stake in Vice when its acquisition of 21st Century Fox completed in March 2019.^[60] As a result, Disney owns a combined 26% stake in Vice Media, through Fox and A+E.

On 20 August 2018, Vice's Munchies and Fremantle Media signed a deal with Triple Five Group to gain control of the food hall at American Dream Meadowlands. The food hall was expected to open in April 2019.^[61][62]

In November 2018, The Wall Street Journal reported that Vice Media was looking to trim its workforce by 10–15%, relying on attrition rather than layoffs.^[63] The same month, CEO Nancy Dubuc told an audience at The New York Times Dealbook conference that Vice would return to profitability the following year.^[64][65][66] In March 2019, it was reported that Vice Media was looking to raise another $200 million in funding.^[67][68]

On 1 May 2019, Vice consolidated many of its web channels back into one central platform turning them into feature sections. The move included independent Munchies, Noisey, Motherboard, Broadly, Free, Amuse, Tonic, Waypoint, and Vice Sports. Vice also ended its block on the ad industry's keyword blacklist of 25 terms.^[69]

On 3 May 2019, Vice Media announced that it raised $250 million in debt from George Soros and other investors.^[70] In October, Vice Media announced that it was acquiring Refinery29.^[71] The deal, worth a reported $400 million,^[72] valued the combined company at $4 billion.^[73] In May 2020, Vice media announced they were laying off more than 150 staff due to financial difficulties.^[74][75] In June 2020, Vice Media launched an investigation into allegations of subsidiary Refinery29's toxic work environment.^[76]

On 2 October 2020, Vice Media Group appointed Nadja Bellan-White as the global CMO, to be in charge of worldwide branding, communications and promotions. It was also announced that Meera Pattni had been promoted to VP Communications, directly reporting to Bellan-White.^[77]

In April 2021, Van Scott, former ABC News communications executive, joined VICE as VP Corporate Communications to lead communications in the US. Scott would report into Laura Misselbrook, Global SVP Communications, based in London.^[78]

In April 2021, Vice Media was criticized by Cambodians for photoshopping images of the victims of the Khmer Rouge Genocide. Some victims had smileys photoshopped onto their faces. Vice later admitted to the images being photoshopped and said that "We regret the error and will investigate how this failure of the editorial process occurred."^[79]

In March 2020, Vice Media organised the Azimuth music festival in Saudi Arabia, less than two years after Vice paused all work in Saudi Arabia following the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi. Vice’s brand was not used on marketing material, and contractors had to sign to sign non-disclosure agreements regarding Vice's involvement. Vice opened a commercial and creative office in Riyadh in 2022.^[80]

In March 2021, it was claimed that "VICE Media Group is the world’s largest independent youth media company", with offices in 35 cities across the world. Its five key businesses were listed as: VICE.com (digital content); VICE STUDIOS (film and TV production) VICE TV; VICE NEWS; and VIRTUE (an agency offering creative services).^[10]

In September 2021, it was reported that Vice raised another investment round following cancelled plans to go public via special purpose acquisition company (SPAC).^[81]

In January 2023, Vice began exploring the possibility of selling itself.^[82] On February 24, 2023, Dubuc left as CEO as the company faced problems with turning an annual profit and finding a buyer.^[83]

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Shane Smith (journalist)

Shane Smith (journalist)

Shane Smith is a Canadian journalist and media executive. He is executive chairman of the international media company Vice Media, operating an international network of digital channels, a television production studio, a record label, an in-house creative services agency, a book-publishing house, and a feature film division. Smith served as CEO of Vice from its founding until March 2018. Former A+E Networks CEO Nancy Dubuc was named CEO 13 March 2018. In his role as Executive Chairman, "Smith will now be focused on creating content and strategic deals and partnerships to help grow the company."

Gavin McInnes

Gavin McInnes

Gavin Miles McInnes is a Canadian writer, podcaster, far-right commentator and founder of the Proud Boys. He is the host of Get Off My Lawn with Gavin McInnes on Censored.TV, which he founded. He co-founded Vice magazine in 1994 at the age of 24, and relocated to the United States in 2001. In 2016 he founded the Proud Boys, an American far-right neo-fascist organization designated as a terrorist group in Canada and New Zealand. McInnes has been described as promoting violence against political opponents, but has claimed that he only has supported political violence in self-defense and that he is not far-right or a supporter of fascism, identifying as "a fiscal conservative and libertarian".

Montreal Mirror

Montreal Mirror

Montreal Mirror or just Mirror was a free English language alternative newsweekly based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada which was distributed every Thursday. It had a circulation of 70,000 and reached a quarter of a million readers per week.

Godspeed You! Black Emperor

Godspeed You! Black Emperor

Godspeed You! Black Emperor is a Canadian post-rock band which originated in Montreal, Quebec in 1994. The group releases recordings through Constellation, an independent record label also located in Montreal. After the release of their debut album in 1997, the group toured regularly from 1998 to 2003. Their second album, 2000's Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven, received critical acclaim and has been named as one of the best albums of the decade. In 2003, the band announced an indefinite hiatus in order for members to pursue other musical interests. In the intervening period, the group was occasionally rumored to have broken up, but finally reconvened for a tour which began in late 2010. Since reforming, they have released four more albums, the most recent being G_d's Pee at State's End! in April 2021.

Dummies Theatre

Dummies Theatre

Dummies Theatre was a Canadian experimental and interdisciplinary contemporary theatre company known for creating free site-specific works and daring productions in vacant stores located in Montreal during the 1990s.

Bran Van 3000

Bran Van 3000

Bran Van 3000 is a Canadian alternative rock and hip hop collective from Montreal, Quebec. Founded by James Di Salvio and E.P. Bergen, they collaborated on a number of songs with Stéphane Moraille, Sara Johnston, Steve "Liquid" Hawley, Jayne Hill, Jean Leloup, Kim Bingham, Pierre-Luc Cerat and many other musicians.

Arcade Fire

Arcade Fire

Arcade Fire is a Canadian indie rock band, consisting of husband and wife Win Butler and Régine Chassagne, alongside Richard Reed Parry, Tim Kingsbury and Jeremy Gara. The band's current touring line-up also includes former core member Sarah Neufeld and multi-instrumentalists Paul Beaubrun, Dan Boeckner and Eric Heigle. Each of the band's studio albums features contributions from composer and violinist Owen Pallett.

New York City

New York City

New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over 300.46 square miles (778.2 km2), New York City is the most densely populated major city in the United States and more than twice as populous as Los Angeles, the nation's second-largest city. New York City is located at the southern tip of New York State. It constitutes the geographical and demographic center of both the Northeast megalopolis and the New York metropolitan area, the largest metropolitan area in the U.S. by both population and urban area. With over 20.1 million people in its metropolitan statistical area and 23.5 million in its combined statistical area as of 2020, New York is one of the world's most populous megacities, and over 58 million people live within 250 mi (400 km) of the city. New York City is a global cultural, financial, entertainment, and media center with a significant influence on commerce, health care and life sciences, research, technology, education, politics, tourism, dining, art, fashion, and sports. Home to the headquarters of the United Nations, New York is an important center for international diplomacy, and is sometimes described as the capital of the world.

Ryan McGinley

Ryan McGinley

Ryan McGinley is an American photographer living in New York City. McGinley began making photographs in 1998. In 2003, at the age of 25, he was one of the youngest artists to have a solo show at the Whitney Museum of American Art. He was named Photographer of the Year in 2003 by American Photo Magazine. In 2007, McGinley was awarded the Young Photographer Infinity Award by the International Center of Photography. In 2009, he was honored at The Young Collectors Council's Artists Ball at the Guggenheim Museum. A 2014 GQ article declared McGinley, "the most important photographer in America."

Andy Capper

Andy Capper

Andrew Richard Capper is a British US-based director, journalist and former editor and executive producer at Vice Media. In 2018, he founded Happy Now Film.

Intel

Intel

Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California. It is the world's largest semiconductor chip manufacturer by revenue, and is one of the developers of the x86 series of instruction sets found in most personal computers (PCs). Incorporated in Delaware, Intel ranked No. 45 in the 2020 Fortune 500 list of the largest United States corporations by total revenue for nearly a decade, from 2007 to 2016 fiscal years.

Electronic music

Electronic music

Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means. Pure electronic instruments depended entirely on circuitry-based sound generation, for instance using devices such as an electronic oscillator, theremin, or synthesizer. Electromechanical instruments can have mechanical parts such as strings, hammers, and electric elements including magnetic pickups, power amplifiers and loudspeakers. Such electromechanical devices include the telharmonium, Hammond organ, electric piano and the electric guitar.

Vice Media holds a range of online and offline properties. Digital channels include:

• ^ Launch refers to year where the first Vice-produced video was released on their respective YouTube channels.
• ^ In 2014, Vice Media took over the YouTube-funded channel The NOC, which was launched in 2012.

VICE Media operates a range of digital and offline entities, a live music venue and other enterprises. These include:

Vice magazine

Vice is a print magazine and website focused on arts, culture, and news topics. Founded in 1994 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, the magazine was the first product of the media company now known as Vice Media.^[26]

As of April 2017, the magazine's editor-in-chief is Ellis Jones.^[89][90] The magazine switched to a quarterly publication schedule in 2018, though issues still generally explore a single theme.^[91]

Vice News

Vice News is the name of Vice Media's current affairs brand, consisting of ViceNews.com, a nightly news program called Vice News Tonight, and an Emmy-winning weekly news program, Vice, both airing on HBO.^[92] Vice News focuses on coverage of events that may not be as well covered by other news sources. On 24 May 2016, Vice Media promoted Josh Tyrangiel to oversee a unified Vice News division consisting of Vice News, the weekly HBO Vice News show, and the daily "Vice News Tonight."^[93]

Vice News creates content daily, distributing written articles and video on its website and YouTube channel.^[94] In 2015, the channel won two Peabody Awards for its video series "The Islamic State" and "Last Chance High".^[95]

In 2013, HBO aired the first 10-episode season of a half-hour newsmagazine known as Vice, with Bill Maher as executive producer. The initial season saw international coverage for the season one finale that had Vice play an exhibition basketball game in North Korea with Dennis Rodman and the Harlem Globetrotters. The show was renewed for a second season, which aired in 2014 and won an Emmy award for Outstanding Informational Series or Special.^[96] The show was picked up for two more 14-episode seasons by HBO in May 2014, which aired in 2015 and 2016. The program is currently in its fifth season which was expanded to a total of 30 episodes.^[15]

In October 2016, a second Vice News program, a nightly news program called Vice News Tonight, premiered. The program is slated to run 48 weeks each year, featuring pre-edited video and graphics segments covering global news, technology, the environment, economics, and pop culture, while eschewing the use of live TV anchors.^[97]

Following the violent protests by white supremacists, white nationalists and other groups at the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, Vice News Tonight broke from its normal newsmagazine format to devote an entire episode to a documentary film on the events. The episode aired the same weekend as the rally, 14 August 2017. "Charlottesville: Race and Terror" garnered critical praise, with Esquire urging readers to "watch it and share it".^[98] In addition to featuring the video on its subscription streaming channels, HBO agreed to post the entire video on YouTube. Within two weeks, it had more than 44 million views between HBO and online platforms.^{[99][100][101][102]} The Guardian wrote that the film "lays bare" the "horror of neo-Nazis in America."^[103] The episode received a Peabody Award for public service journalism in April 2018.^[104][105]

Vice on TV

Vice on TV is a cable television network operated by Vice primarily featuring documentary-style programs targeted toward millennials.^[47][48][49] It operates under partnership with local cable and free-to-air television providers in the following regions:

The channel is available through cable providers as well as OTT services.^[118][119]

Viceland was formerly available as a dedicated channel in Canada, through a partnership with Rogers Communications;^[120] however, this channel was shut down in March 2018 due to low viewership.^[121] In August 2018, Vice signed a new content deal with Bell Media to relaunch Vice-branded content in Canada on various Bell-owned properties including Much and CraveTV.^[122]

In August 2019, it was reported that Vice media is moving Viceland toward news and away from entertainment and other lifestyle programming, and has plans to merge Viceland with Vice News.^[20]

Vice Music

Vice Records or Vice Music, launched in 2002, is Vice's in-house record label. It has released albums and singles by the following artists through various major label distributors:^{[123][124][125]}

Vice Films

Since 2007, Vice Media has released documentaries through the Vice Films label. Its first theatrical release was "White Lightnin'" in 2009.^[126] Vice Films released its first narrative feature, "Fishing Without Nets," in 2014.^[127] On 8 December 2014, 20th Century Fox and Vice Media announced they would collaborate to finance, produce, distribute, market, and acquire narrative films under the Vice Films brand.^[128]

Documentaries and features from Vice Films have been recognized by major US and international film festivals. Cutter Hodierne received the best director award at the Sundance Film Festival in 2014 for "Fishing Without Nets."^[129] "The Bad Batch," another feature film, received the Special Jury Prize at the 2016 Venice Film Festival.^[130]

Vice Films also released 2008's feature length rockumentary "Heavy Metal in Baghdad," which followed the thrash metal band Acrassicauda in Iraq. The New York Times praised the production and reporting, calling it a "stirring testament to the plight of cultural expression in Baghdad and a striking report on the refugee scene in Syria."^[131]

Andy Capper directed "Reincarnated" starring Snoop Dogg and Diplo, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. Netflix acquired the rights. He also made "Lil Bub & Friendz", which won the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival.

After it premiered at the Venice Film Festival in September 2017, Netflix acquired the rights to the Vice Films documentary "Jim & Andy," about Jim Carrey's portrayal of the late Andy Kaufman in the movie "Man on the Moon." The film was directed by Chris Smith and produced by Spike Jonze.^[132][133]

The Vice Guide to Everything

The MTV series The Vice Guide to Everything, which premiered in December 2010, was a weekly news magazine featuring short video segments on various global issues, hosted by Shane Smith and roster of correspondents. The segments sought to cater to a younger audience with a more condensed, entertaining approach to the news.^{[134][135][136][137][138]} The series aired until 2011.^[139]

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Alternative culture

Alternative culture

Alternative culture is a type of culture that exists outside or on the fringes of mainstream or popular culture, usually under the domain of one or more subcultures. These subcultures may have little or nothing in common besides their relative obscurity, but cultural studies uses this common basis of obscurity to classify them as alternative cultures, or, taken as a whole, the alternative culture. Compare with the more politically charged term, counterculture.

Music

Music

Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect of all human societies, a cultural universal. While scholars agree that music is defined by a few specific elements, there is no consensus on their precise definitions. The creation of music is commonly divided into musical composition, musical improvisation, and musical performance, though the topic itself extends into academic disciplines, criticism, philosophy, and psychology. Music may be performed or improvised using a vast range of instruments, including the human voice.

Technology

Technology

Technology is the application of knowledge for achieving practical goals in a reproducible way. The word technology can also mean the products resulting from such efforts, including both tangible tools such as utensils or machines, and intangible ones such as software. Technology plays a critical role in science, engineering, and everyday life.

Science

Science

Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe.

LGBT community

LGBT community

The LGBT community also known as the LGBTQ+ community, GLBT community, gay community, or queer community is a loosely defined grouping of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals united by a common culture and social movements. These communities generally celebrate pride, diversity, individuality, and sexuality. LGBT activists and sociologists see LGBT community-building as a counterweight to heterosexism, homophobia, biphobia, transphobia, sexualism, and conformist pressures that exist in the larger society. The term pride or sometimes gay pride expresses the LGBT community's identity and collective strength; pride parades provide both a prime example of the use and a demonstration of the general meaning of the term. The LGBT community is diverse in political affiliation. Not all people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender consider themselves part of the LGBT community.

Food

Food

Food is any substance consumed by an organism for nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or fungal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals. The substance is ingested by an organism and assimilated by the organism's cells to provide energy, maintain life, or stimulate growth. Different species of animals have different feeding behaviours that satisfy the needs of their metabolisms that have evolved to fill a specific ecological niche within specific geographical contexts.

Cooking show

Cooking show

A cooking show, cookery show, or cooking program is a television genre that presents food preparation, often in a restaurant kitchen or on a studio set, or at the host's personal home. Typically the show's host, often a celebrity chef, prepares one or more dishes over the course of an episode, taking the viewing audience through the food's inspiration, preparation, and stages of cooking.

I-D

I-D

i-D is a British bimonthly magazine published by Vice Media, dedicated to fashion, music, art and youth culture. i-D was founded by designer and former Vogue art director Terry Jones in 1980. The first issue was published in the form of a hand-stapled fanzine with text produced on a typewriter. Over the years the magazine evolved into a mature glossy but it has kept street style and youth culture central.

Fashion

Fashion

Fashion is a form of self-expression and autonomy at a particular period and place and in a specific context, of clothing, footwear, lifestyle, accessories, makeup, hairstyle, and body posture. The term implies a look defined by the fashion industry as that which is trending. Everything that is considered fashion is available and popularized by the fashion system.

Garage Magazine

Garage Magazine

Garage is a biannual publication dedicated to contemporary art and fashion. It was founded by Dasha Zhukova in 2011.

Advocacy

Advocacy

Advocacy is an activity by an individual or group that aims to influence decisions within political, economic, and social institutions. Advocacy includes activities and publications to influence public policy, laws and budgets by using facts, their relationships, the media, and messaging to educate government officials and the public. Advocacy can include many activities that a person or organization undertakes, including media campaigns, public speaking, commissioning and publishing research. Lobbying is a form of advocacy where a direct approach is made to legislators on a specific issue or specific piece of legislation. Research has started to address how advocacy groups in the United States and Canada are using social media to facilitate civic engagement and collective action.

Refinery29

Refinery29

Refinery29 (R29) is an American multinational digital media and entertainment website focused on young women. It is owned by Vice Media.

Global expansion

Vice Media has steadily acquired media properties and firms and closed deals in order to expand its global operations.

In June 2014, it was reported that Time Warner was negotiating to acquire up to a 40% stake in Vice Media;^[140] among the company's plans were to give Vice Media control over the programming of HLN—a spin-off network of CNN which had recently struggled in its attempts to re-focus itself as a younger-skewing, social media-oriented news service. However, the deal fell through as the companies were unable to agree on a proper valuation,^[141] and Vice Media chose to partner with A&E Networks for a 10% minority stake.^[142] A&E's co-owner Disney made a second investment of $200 million.^[43]

On 30 October 2014, Vice Media announced a CDN$100 million joint venture with Rogers Communications that to facilitate the construction of production facilities in Toronto, as well as the introduction of a Vice-branded television network and digital properties in Canada in 2015. Rogers CEO Guy Laurence described the proposed studio as "a powerhouse for Canadian digital content focused on 18- to 34-year-olds" that will be "exciting" and "provocative." The content of the partnership will be aimed primarily toward digital platforms.^[143][144]

In November 2014, Vice Media announced that Alyssa Mastromonaco, who formerly worked in the Obama administration, would come on board as the company's chief operating officer in January 2015,^[145] and that James Schwab, who had previously advised Vice and DreamWorks on media deals, would be joining as co-president.^[146]

In June 2016, at the Cannes Lions Awards, the company announced its planned expansion into over 50 countries, including partnerships with The Times of India Group and Moby that will see Vice enter the India and Middle East markets with digital, mobile, and linear operations.^[147] New Viceland channels have already launched in Southeast Asia, Australia, New Zealand, and Africa.^[148][149]

In late 2016, Vice announced a news and content expansion into the Indonesian market, with the goal of reaching the country's roughly 100 million young adults aged between 18 and 34 years. As of 7 November 2016, Vice had struck digital and cable programming deals with Google and Indonesian television network Jawa Pos TV to broadcast its original lifestyle, culture, and news content.^[150][151]

On 1 March 2017 at Mobile World Congress, Vice announced new content deals with mobile operators in multiple regions, including an extensive Asia Pacific expansion and renewed partnership with Verizon's Go90 branch. The new deals will bring Vice's content into more than 80 global territories by the end of 2017.^[51]

Shane Smith of Vice Media during Mobile World Congress 2017

On 22 March 2017, Vice Media finalized a deal with French digital media studio Blackpills for the creation of a line-up of original short-form programming, set to premiere on Vice's digital video hub, video.vice.com. Blackpills would enlist international filmmakers including Luc Besson, Bryan Singer, and Zoe Cassavetes in the creative effort. Vice London subsidiary Pulse Films contributed original content to air on video.vice.com, and Viceland in both the US and Canada aired Blackpills' first series, French/Canadian co-production You Got Trumped: The First 100 Days starring Donald Trump impersonator John Di Domenico and comedian Ron Sparks.^[152]

Later in March 2017, while in India, Shane Smith discussed his partnership with the Times Group. The company launched Vice India as well as their agency business, Virtue.^[153] Smith also revealed that the company had "held India back as a launch partner because it's so important to get it right. We didn't just want to come in, set up a studio and go. We wanted to have a plan, make sure we did it correctly."^[154] In June 2017, Vice announced a partnership with Brazilian media giant Grupo Globo that will see Vice grow its existing presence in the region through increased local production capabilities and increased mobile programming.^[155][156]

In November 2017, Vice announced the launch of a new Asia Pacific office with a dedicated CEO to oversee programming and business operations in India, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and elsewhere in the region.^[157] The headquarters, in Singapore, will include "studio space that will be used for original documentary, drama, and film projects as well as by Vice's branding agency, Virtue."^[158]

In March 2021, the Pedestrian Group announced a multi-year deal to become the Australian digital publishing home of the brand.^[159][160] In January 2022 a new team of five, headed by Brad Esposito, was announced to head up Vice Australia and New Zealand.^[161]

Ventures, acquisitions, and mergers

Since 2002, the company has diversified through a number of other businesses.

Old Blue Last Pub

The Old Blue Last pub in 2012.
Old Blue Last at Wikimedia Commons

In 2004 Vice acquired a pub and music venue in Shoreditch, East London named The Old Blue Last,^[162] in which a live music program entitled "Live at the Old Blue Last" is filmed. After Vice bought the Old Blue Last in 2004,^[163] it underwent a series of improvements, with most taking place in 2010.^[164] In 2012, Vice began selling beer under the Old Blue Last label.

i-D Magazine

Vice integrated with the British fashion magazine i-D^[165] in December 2012,^[166] with Vice president Andrew Creighton calling it "one of the only fashion publications in the world we actually respect."^[167]

VRSE.farm

In 2015, Vice announced it invested an "undisclosed sum" in VRSE.farm, a virtual reality company founded by acclaimed director Chris Milk. The announcement came alongside a debut VR experience at the Sundance Festival, a "virtual-reality journalism broadcast" made in partnership with Spike Jonze and Vice News.^[168]

Pulse Films

Pulse Films was founded in 2005 by Thomas Benski and Marisa Clifford.^[169]

In March 2016, Vice acquired controlling stake in UK television and film production company Pulse Films, to bolster its original programming efforts.^[170][171] As of 22 March 2017, Pulse Films produces original content, including the series Pillowtalk and Twiz and Tuck Bucket List for exclusive release on video.vice.com, Vice's digital video hub. As of March 2022^[update] Pulse Films has offices in Los Angeles, New York, Paris, Berlin and Milan.^[10] It specialises in producing fiction feature, music documentaries and drama-documentaries.^[169]

Garage Magazine

Vice acquired UK magazine Garage in July 2017 to expand its foothold in the youth market and announced plans to launch a digital channel focused on art, fashion and literature.^[172]

Villain

In May 2018 Vice announced the acquisition of experiential events company Villain at its NewFronts presentation, but didn't reveal what they paid for it. Villain is based in a 15,000 ft warehouse near Vice's headquarters in Williamsburg, NYC. The company works with a host of major brands, including PepsiCo, Toyota and RedBull.^[173]

Virtue Worldwide

On 26 January 2017, Vice announced the consolidation of its in-house agency Virtue with Carrot Creative, a digital and mobile agency Vice acquired in 2013, Pulse Films, a production company Vice acquired in 2016 into the new "Virtue Worldwide."^[174][175] Based in Brooklyn, New York, the combined 450-person global consultancy provides the services of a full agency network and multi-platform content creation studio. Virtue Worldwide will be led by CEO Lars Hemming Jorgensen.^[176]

Relying on these in-house and acquired agencies, apart from its editorial operations, Vice works with advertisers to create global ad campaigns tailored to the company's younger audience.^[177][178] The ads generate revenue from the production of the ad and placement within a given media property.^[179] Vice maintains the separation between the production of branded and hard news content, while some critics contend that their operation "blurs the line between editorial and sponsorship".^[180] This practice is sometimes referred to as "native advertising," due to how ads are often mingled with regular content.^[181] Co-founder Alvi has also said that Vice has had "franchises that were underwritten by sponsors – that's our goal, to get a lot of our news franchises and stories and reports sponsored by advertisers. It's kind of the way news used to be in the fifties: 'Brought to you by Gillette' or whatever it was. We love that model."^[182]

Some of the brands that Vice has worked with are Google, Unilever, Bank of America, Samsung, Toyota, Levi Strauss & Co. and Intel.^[183] However, some advertisers have been controversial; Edition Worldwide, a subsidiary of Vice UK, was called "highly irresponsible" by the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids and other anti-smoking groups for their work producing content for tobacco giant Philip Morris International. This was seen as unethical by anti-tobacco groups due to the young audience which Vice News usually attracts.^[184][185] In March 2019, Vice accepted £5M from Philip Morris to promote e-cigarettes to young people.^[186]

Discover more about Business operations related topics

CNN

CNN

CNN is a multinational news channel and website headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by the Manhattan-based media conglomerate Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), CNN was the first television channel to provide 24-hour news coverage and the first all-news television channel in the United States.

A&E Networks

A&E Networks

A&E Networks is an American multinational broadcasting company that is a 50–50 joint venture between Hearst Communications and The Walt Disney Company through its General Entertainment Content division. The company owns several non-fiction and entertainment-based television brands, including its namesake A&E, History, Lifetime, FYI, and their associated sister channels, and holds stakes in or licenses their international branches.

Rogers Communications

Rogers Communications

Rogers Communications Inc. is a Canadian communications and media company operating primarily in the fields of wireless communications, cable television, telephony and Internet, with significant additional telecommunications and mass media assets. Rogers has its headquarters in Toronto, Ontario.

Toronto

Toronto

Toronto is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anchor of the Golden Horseshoe, an urban agglomeration of 9,765,188 people surrounding the western end of Lake Ontario, while the Greater Toronto Area proper had a 2021 population of 6,712,341. Toronto is an international centre of business, finance, arts, sports and culture, and is recognized as one of the most multicultural and cosmopolitan cities in the world.

Alyssa Mastromonaco

Alyssa Mastromonaco

Alyssa Mende Mastromonaco is an American author, podcaster, spokeswoman, and former government official. She served as White House Deputy Chief of Staff for operations in the administration of President Barack Obama from 2011 to 2014. She was the youngest woman to hold that position. She was later President of Global Communications Strategy & Talent at A&E Networks and the chief operating officer of Vice Media. She has also been a contributing editor at Marie Claire magazine. Since 2017, Mastromonaco has been a podcaster with Crooked Media.

Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity

Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity

The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity is a global event for those working in creative communications, advertising, and related fields. It is considered the largest gathering of the advertising and creative communications industry.

The Times Group

The Times Group

Bennett, Coleman and Company Limited,, is an Indian media conglomerate headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra. The company remains a family-owned business with Sahu Jain family owning a majority stake in The Times Group.

Mobile World Congress

Mobile World Congress

MWC Barcelona is an annual trade show organised by GSMA, dedicated primarily to the mobile communications industry.

Luc Besson

Luc Besson

Luc Paul Maurice Besson is a French film director, screenwriter and producer. He directed or produced the films Subway (1985), The Big Blue (1988), and La Femme Nikita (1990). Associated with the Cinéma du look film movement, he has been nominated for a César Award for Best Director and Best Picture for his films Léon: The Professional (1994) and the English-language The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc (1999). He won Best Director and Best French Director for his sci-fi action film The Fifth Element (1997). He wrote and directed the 2014 sci-fi action film Lucy and the 2017 space opera film Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets.

Bryan Singer

Bryan Singer

Bryan Jay Singer is an American filmmaker. He is the founder of Bad Hat Harry Productions and has produced almost all of the films he has directed.

John Di Domenico

John Di Domenico

John Di Domenico is an American actor, comedian and writer, best known for his award-winning impersonation of Donald Trump. He has portrayed Donald Trump many times on television, movies and web series, which includes Meet the Spartans, Conan, Red Eye, You Got Trumped and others.

Ron Sparks (comedian)

Ron Sparks (comedian)

Ron Sparks is a Canadian comedian, actor, writer and producer. He was born in Chatham-Kent, Ontario and lives in Toronto, Ontario. He is best known as an alternative comedian and frequent guest on CBC Radio's The Debaters, and on TV as a regular and favourite juror on MuchMusic's highest-rated show, Video on Trial, also starring as The Judge in the Stars on Trial Christmas special and various other VOT spin-offs.

On 7 August 2015, the roughly 70-person writing staff of Vice Media US voted to unionize, joining the Writers Guild of America, East. Vice management quickly recognized the union. The successful union drive followed in the footsteps of Salon, Gawker, and The Guardian.^[187][188]

Then, in September 2017, employees and freelancers who "work on video content for Vice.com, cable channel Viceland, and Vice programming on HBO" unionized through Writers Guild of America, East and the Motion Pictures Editors Guild.^[189] At the time, a leader from one of the unions said, "We have built a constructive relationship with Vice management and applaud the company for continuing to respect the right of its employees to engage in collective bargaining."^[190]

On 2 May 2017, Vice Media ratified a three-year collective bargaining agreement with 170 employees of the company's Canadian division who had joined the Canadian Media Guild union in 2016.^[191]

In February 2016, staff members at Vice UK called for unionization with an officially recognised trade union by the National Union of Journalists (NUJ). Staff members said this was following the steps of Vice US (which unionized with the Writers Guild of America, East^[192]), in order to allow the staff to "share in the success of the company", to strengthen job security by Vice providing better contracts, to address "pay issues ... so everyone gets a fair deal, including freelancers" and enhance career progression opportunities.^[193]

This proposition was rejected by Vice UK; the company refused to recognise the NUJ, but instead said that they were free to set up an internal staff council. Vice chief executive, Matt Elek, claimed the NUJ had displayed "a concerning lack of transparency from them about who they are purporting to represent here [and had] not been able to provide us with any numbers to demonstrate the degree of support they have in this office", adding that: "The NUJ are used to working with old print media businesses and structures – they are not used to innovative, digital workplaces like this where the culture has always been to encourage flexibility and allow people work across different departments."^[194]

In response, Michelle Stanistreet (General Secretary of the NUJ) said:

The accusation that the NUJ has not been transparent in its discussions with Vice management is simply untrue. It's a shame that the company has proven so resistant to listening to its own staff and facilitating what they want – a collective voice at work. That the NUJ and its 30,000 members – including those at Vice – are not used to the reality of a digital workforce is laughable and shows it's the company who are out of date with 21st century trade unions. Rejecting calls for union recognition from their own journalists and then trying to fob them off with a Rupert Murdoch-style staff association is a pretty old-fashioned union-busting ruse that misses the point. NUJ officials and reps at Vice will continue with the push for recognition and if the company wants that to be gained through the law forcing their hand rather than through sensible engagement with their staff, so be it.^[195]

The NUJ submitted a new request for recognition in March 2019. Following talks at Acas, the company agreed to recognise the NUJ for purposes of collective bargaining on 25 July 2019.^[196]

Discover more about Unionization related topics

Writers Guild of America, East

Writers Guild of America, East

The Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) is a labor union representing writers in film, television, radio, news, and online media.

Gawker

Gawker

Gawker was an American blog founded by Nick Denton and Elizabeth Spiers and based in New York City focusing on celebrities and the media industry. According to SimilarWeb, the site had over 23 million visits per month as of 2015. Founded in 2002, Gawker was the flagship blog for Denton's Gawker Media. Gawker Media also managed other blogs such as Jezebel, io9, Deadspin and Kotaku.

The Guardian

The Guardian

The Guardian is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as The Manchester Guardian, and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers, The Observer and The Guardian Weekly, The Guardian is part of the Guardian Media Group, owned by the Scott Trust. The trust was created in 1936 to "secure the financial and editorial independence of The Guardian in perpetuity and to safeguard the journalistic freedom and liberal values of The Guardian free from commercial or political interference". The trust was converted into a limited company in 2008, with a constitution written so as to maintain for The Guardian the same protections as were built into the structure of the Scott Trust by its creators. Profits are reinvested in its journalism rather than distributed to owners or shareholders. It is considered a newspaper of record in the UK.

Motion Picture Editors Guild

Motion Picture Editors Guild

The Motion Picture Editors Guild is the guild that represents freelance and staff motion picture film and television editors and other post-production professionals and story analysts throughout the United States. The Motion Picture Editors Guild is a part of the 500 affiliated local unions of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE), a national labor organization with 104,000-plus members. There are more than 6,000 members of the Editors Guild.

National Union of Journalists

National Union of Journalists

The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) is a trade union for journalists in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It was founded in 1907 and has 38,000 members. It is a member of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ).

Job security

Job security

Job security is the probability that an individual will keep their job; a job with a high level of security is such that a person with the job would have a small chance of losing it. Many factors threaten job security: globalization, outsourcing, downsizing, recession, and new technology, to name a few.

Michelle Stanistreet

Michelle Stanistreet

Michelle Stanistreet is an English trade unionist and journalist, now General Secretary of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ). She is the first woman to hold the post her post at the NUJ – she was previously deputy secretary. She replaced Jeremy Dear in July 2011.

Rupert Murdoch

Rupert Murdoch

Keith Rupert Murdoch is an Australian-born American business magnate. Through his company News Corp, he is the owner of hundreds of local, national, and international publishing outlets around the world, including in the UK, in Australia, in the US, book publisher HarperCollins, and the television broadcasting channels Sky News Australia and Fox News. He was also the owner of Sky, 21st Century Fox, and the now-defunct News of the World. With a net worth of US$21.7 billion as of 2 March 2022, Murdoch is the 31st richest person in the United States and the 71st richest in the world.

Acas

Acas

The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas) is a non-departmental public body of the Government of the United Kingdom. Its purpose is to improve organisations and working life through the promotion and facilitation of strong industrial relations practice. Acas provides employment law and employment relations advice for employers and employees through its website and helpline. It also offers dispute resolution services such as arbitration or mediation, although the service is perhaps best known for its collective conciliation function – that is resolving disputes between groups of employees or workers, often represented by a trade union, and their employers.

Vice Media expanded its offices to 55 Washington Street in Dumbo, Brooklyn

In July 2014, Vice Media announced it would be moving its headquarters to a new building in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, where their New York office had been since 1999. According to an article in The Wall Street Journal, the move would allow them to double their current office size and hire about 500 new employees.^[197]

Following this announcement, the two music venues occupying the building, Glasslands Gallery and Death By Audio, soon announced the news they would be closing. Following the announcement from Glasslands management in October 2014 that the arts venue would close at the end of 2014, thereby making it the third Williamsburg music space to close through Vice Media's expansion—alongside 285 Kent and Death By Audio—Big Shot Magazine claimed that the Brooklyn music community had received a "proverbial kick in the groin."^[198]

After a series of articles covering the venues' eviction, BrooklynVegan reported on the deals that led to Vice Media moving into the new office, including terms buying out tenants and covering past overdue rent, that contradicted some press around the renovation of the building and Vice Media's dealings with the current tenants. Regardless, as the article puts it, "The concept of 'Vice vs. DIY' in Williamsburg is officially a thing."^[199]

After expanding into the Glasslands Gallery and Death by Audio space in 2014, Vice further expanded its Brooklyn footprint by leasing a 74,000 square foot property at 55 Washington Street. The new property houses agency acquisitions Carrot Creative along with other Vice corporate staff.^[200][201]

Discover more about Office expansion in Brooklyn related topics

Dumbo, Brooklyn

Dumbo, Brooklyn

Dumbo is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The area known as Dumbo used to be known as Gairville. It encompasses two sections: one located between the Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges, which connect Brooklyn to Manhattan across the East River, and another that continues east from the Manhattan Bridge to the Vinegar Hill area. The neighborhood is bounded by Brooklyn Bridge Park to the north, the Brooklyn Bridge to the west, Brooklyn Heights to the south and Vinegar Hill to the east. Dumbo is part of Brooklyn Community Board 2.

Williamsburg, Brooklyn

Williamsburg, Brooklyn

Williamsburg is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, bordered by Greenpoint to the north; Bedford–Stuyvesant to the south; Bushwick and East Williamsburg to the east; and the East River to the west. As of the 2020 United States census, the neighborhood's population is 151,308.

Glasslands Gallery

Glasslands Gallery

Glasslands Gallery was a music venue, dance club and art space in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Glasslands was founded by Brooke Baxter and Rolyn Hu in 2006, as a relocation of Baxter’s earlier art space in the same building, Glass House Gallery. Hu and Baxter held the lease on the Glasslands space until 2012, when they made a turn key sale to Rami Haykal and Jake Rosenthal of PopGun presents, who had been managing bookings since 2009, and day-to-day operations since 2010. PopGun owned the business and lease for two years, until the venue was displaced to be converted into Vice Media‘s office headquarters. As a concert venue, Glasslands was one of the longest-running of several 2000s independent creative venue spaces in the vicinity of the Williamsburg waterfront, which included 285 KENT, Death By Audio, Secret Project Robot, Monster Island Basement, B.P.M., Live With Animals Gallery, the Rock Star Bar, and many others.

Death By Audio

Death By Audio

Death By Audio was a warehouse space on the first floor of an industrial building in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. The warehouse took its name from the boutique effects pedal company, Death By Audio, based in the space. The company was founded in 2002 by Oliver Ackermann, the lead singer of the New York City-based noise rock band A Place to Bury Strangers.

BrooklynVegan

BrooklynVegan

BrooklynVegan is an American online music magazine founded in 2004 by David Levine. The company is headquartered in Brooklyn, New York, United States and originally focused on vegan food and the music community in and around New York City, before broadening its scope to covering musical artists and events worldwide. Since 2011, BrooklynVegan operates two subsidiaries dedicated to other cites: BV Chicago, which serves Chicago, Illinois; and BV Austin, which serves Austin, Texas.