Yahoo News Vice News’ Top Editor Tells Staff He Doesn’t Know if Flagship Website Will Shutter
Hours after multiple staffers expressed concern that Vice Media was considering shuttering or gutting its flagship news website following the brand’s sale to a consortium of its former bankruptcy lenders, the CEO of the company weighed in with a memo (below) detailing sweeping change.
Vice Media chief Bruce Dixon confirmed that “several hundred” staffers would be laid off and “we will no longer publish content on vice.com” as the company transitions to a “studio model” to sell its content to other outlets.
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Earlier in the day, editors from different parts of Vice met with their staffs and informed them that they have asked management for clarity on the situation but haven’t received a reply. Vice News’ top editor Josh Visser addressed staffers on a midday Zoom and said he had given senior executives of the company, including CEO Dixon, an opportunity to deny rumors the site was shuttering, but he had not heard back, which he described as “very upsetting.”
“Our website and our work being pulled down would be completely reprehensible,” he told staffers. “I cannot even understand any business reasons why you would do something like that.”
Visser told staff a plan he had proposed to restructure the newsroom had essentially been rejected by management and that, even though it is almost March, he still does not have a budget for the year. Staff asked Visser about whether their next paycheck would clear and if their Vice laptops may become disabled by the company. “I don’t know more than you guys besides being able to read faces and notice who is not replying to my messages,” Visser said.
The scramble among staffers appears to have been sparked by a tech update by the company. “As part of a companywide security and data compliance update, Vice last week disabled a tool called Google Takeout which previously allowed employees to download their Google data in bulk,” a person familiar with the company says. “This system change is in no way tied to other business decisions at the company.”
Vice Media filed for bankruptcy in May of last year, canceled its flagship show Vice News Tonight weeks before, and pledged cost cuts and layoffs during restructuring. Last July, Vice inked a deal to sell itself to a group led by Fortress Investment LLC, Soros Fund Management and Monroe Capital, ending a lengthy sales process.
“It looks pretty apocalyptic out there,” Visser told staff. A spokesperson for Vice and Fortress did not respond to multiple requests for comment from THR.
Bruce Dixon’s full memo is below:
Dear Vice Team,
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.
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. Moving forward, we will look to partner with established media companies to distribute our digital content, including news, on their global platforms, as we fully transition to a studio model. As part of this shift, we will no longer publish content on vice.com, instead putting more emphasis on our social channels as we accelerate our discussions with partners to take our content to where it will be viewed most broadly.
Separately, Refinery 29 will continue to operate as a standalone diversified digital publishing business, creating engaging, social first content. As you know, we are in advanced discussions to sell this business, and we are continuing with that process. We expect to announce more on that in the coming weeks.
With this strategic shift comes the need to realign our resources and streamline our overall operations at Vice. Regrettably, this means that we will be reducing our workforce, eliminating several hundred positions. This decision was not made lightly, and I understand the significant impact it will have on those affected. Employees who will be affected will notified about next steps early next week, consistent with local laws and practices.
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. Our financial partners are supportive and have agreed to invest in this operating model going forward. We will emerge stronger and more resilient as we embark on this new phase of our journey.
Thank you for your continued dedication to Vice and support during this time of transition. Together, I am confident that we will overcome any challenges and achieve our shared goals.
Bruce
Feb. 22, 2:15 pm PST Updated with additional information and Vice Media CEO’s memo.
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