Vice Media is set to lay off several hundred employees and will cease publishing content via its website. The news follows long-running financial issues at the publishing firm.
The Canadian firm, which was once a poster child for digital publishing, said it was moving to a “studio model” as it was “no longer cost-effective for us to distribute our digital content the way we have done previously”.
Vice is planning to strike partnerships with other media organisations to distribute its work and is “putting more emphasis on social channels”.
It follows the media group filing for bankruptcy in the US last May and being rescued by Fortress Investment Group in a £275m deal.
Vice Media CEO Bruce Dixon told staff in a memo on Friday: “As we navigate the ever-evolving business landscape, we need to adapt and best align our strategies to be more competitive in the long term. After careful consideration and discussion with the board, we have decided to make some fundamental changes to our strategic vision at Vice.”
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“We create and produce outstanding original content true to the Vice brand. However, it is no longer cost-effective for us to distribute our digital content the way we have done previously,” he continued.
According to Campaign, the systematic blocking of programmatic ads has also impacted on Vice’s online operations, generating significant pressure on the media brand, which is frequently categorised as not “brand-safe” by advertisers, further limiting its appeal.
Vice started as a punk magazine called the Voice of Montreal in 1994 and later branched out into news, audio and television.
At its peak, the media group was reportedly valued at £4.5 billion and had around 1,000 employees worldwide.
1 Comment. Leave new
Go woke, go broke… better learn to code, eh?