On Friday, February 23, Vice media chief Bruce Dixon confirmed that several hundred staffers would be laid off, and that the brand will no longer publish content on vice.com. Dixon further said that the company is transitioning to a “studio model”. A memo in this regard was sent to the employees by Dixon, confirming the change.
As per the memo sent by Dixon, Vice would lay more emphasis on the other channels of distribution. This move from Vice comes amidst a crisis for almost all legacy media brands in the US. Media houses like The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Vox Media, and The Los Angeles Times have all announced job cuts in recent times, while digital platforms like Messenger, BuzzFeed News, and Jezebel have shut down.
Vice currently has over 900 staffers, and now hundreds out of them are set to lose their jobs. “This decision was not made lightly,” Dixon wrote in his memo, adding that those affected will be “notified about next steps early next week”.
Bruce Dixon added, “I know that saying goodbye to our valued colleagues is difficult and feels overwhelming, but this is the best path forward for Vice as we position the company for long-term creative and financial success,” he said.
Last year, Vice had shut down its Asia bureau, and filed for bankruptcy in the US. The media company, which was once valued as high as $5.7 billion, was then sold for $350 million to a consortium led by Fortress Investment Group.
Vice, which was launched in 1994, moved to New York soon after. The media company’s assets include film and TV production, an in-house marketing agency, and brands such as Refinery29 and Unbothered. As per Dixon, Refinery29 will continue to operate as a standalone diversified digital publishing business, however, they do plan to sell that.
According to a Hollywood Reporter report, Vice News Executive Editor Josh Visser described the situation as “very upsetting”. Visser said, “Our website and our work being pulled down would be completely reprehensible … I cannot even understand any business reasons why you would do something like that.”