Vice Media Group has announced that it will streamline its news division, including layoffs and the cancellation of its signature news program. Bad news tonight.
Vice Media Group co-CEOs Bruce Dixon and Hozefa Lokhandwala said the changes were “a response to current market conditions and business realities facing VMG and the news and media industry in general.”
“To be clear, Vice News is at the heart of the Vice Media Group and fundamental to our business. We are NOT exiting the news business, but we are transforming Vice News to position the entire company for long-term opportunities and improve the way we deliver important, breakthrough journalism well into the future,” they wrote.
The staff cuts are the latest to hit the news business, with both traditional and digital media hit by a downturn in the advertising market. Last week, BuzzFeed announced that BuzzFeed News would be discontinued. ABC News has also faced layoffs, with reports this week that FiveThirtyEight founder Nate Silver is leaving.
Vice Media is also in the process of selling or recapitalizing. Nancy Dubuc left Vice Media Group as CEO in February.
Dixon and Lokhandwala said Vice News will be streamlined to “focus on our growing digital video business and news documentary and series production for VTV and distribution partners worldwide.”
Bad news tonightwhich airs on Vice TV, will air in May, they said.
According to a source familiar with the plans, dozens of employees will be affected by the cuts. Those affected include vice news editor-in-chief Michael Learmonth, chief political correspondent Elizabeth Landers, senior political reporter Cameron Joseph, senior editor Christina Sterbenz, national security reporter Ben Makuch and audio journalist Sam Eagan. Brendan Kennedy, vice president of development and document acquisitions at Vice News, was also fired.
Vice News is downsizing its audio team, although podcasts will continue to be produced and Vice World News’ shortened video will be retired. Vice News executive vice president Subrata De wrote in a memo that the Vice World News team, which will be affected by the budget cuts, “has produced some of our most discussed and structured work. But as we expand the scope of digital video series decreases, we are forced to slow down and eventually stop production at this time.
Vice’s digital news team will also be integrated into the publishing division under the consolidated Vice News banner. Katie Drummond will continue to oversee Vice Digital’s news and entertainment brands, reporting to Vice Media CEO Cory Haik. A meeting is planned for next week to outline the changes.
The Bad news tonight The news show has been on the air for almost seven years and has produced more than 1,000 episodes. It originally aired on HBO, but was then rebooted on Vice TV, its joint venture with A+E Networks. The news program won a Peabody for its coverage of the 2017 Charlottesville riots. It was also the most Emmy-nominated news program from 2018 to 2022.
Die writes in the memo: “VNT has been a hub for us for nearly seven years – a guide to so many and an industry leader in awards and storytelling. Seeing this kind of journalism first on HBO and then on Vice TV was groundbreaking and historic. From Charlottesville to those brutal nights in Minneapolis to the streets of Mosul, Baghdad, Kabul, Port-au-Prince and Kherson, millions watched the VNT pieces shared across multiple platforms and such a deep connection with the program and the people who make everything possible.”
CNN first reported on the changes in the company.
The wrote: “Today’s action underscores the collective need to figure out how to get this business model right and support fact-based journalism. Our audience wants it – they respond to it – and they stick with it.
Here is the full memo from Dixon and Lokhandwala:
Team,
In response to the current market conditions and business realities facing VMG and the wider news and media industry, we continue to make a series of painful but necessary cuts, primarily in our news business. We’re transforming VICE News to better withstand market realities and better align with how and where we see our audiences most interacting with our content. To be clear, VICE News is core to the VICE Media Group and fundamental to our business. We are NOT leaving the news business, but we are reshaping VICE News to position the entire company for long-term opportunities and improve the way we deliver important, groundbreaking journalism well into the future.
As part of this process, we have decided to streamline VICE News and reduce roles in our global news team to focus on our growing digital video business and our news documentary and series production activities for VTV and distribution partners around the world. We also post VICE News Tonight on VICE TV (the last VNT broadcast will be in May). It’s clear that we need to accelerate the transition of VICE News to the platforms with the largest audiences – on our own and managed channels, where we have a direct relationship with our audience, on Paramount+ with Showtime, FAST Channels, YouTube, TikTok, Twitch and through documentaries for streaming platforms such as Netflix, HBO Max and Tubi. We believe this strategic focus will strongly position VICE’s incredibly important reporting for the future.
Going forward, VICE News will be produced by our News Productions and Publishing divisions, co-led by Subrata De, EVP, News and Global Head of Programming and Development, and Cory Haik, COO of News and Entertainment – two of the most talented media executives in the world. our industry. Our documentaries and premium series are produced by our News Production division under Subrata, who will continue to oversee global news production for all linear and streaming platforms, including VICE TV. Our daily global VICE News journalism is produced by our publishing division under Cory, with VICE News and Motherboard closely aligned with our other digital brands: VICE, Refinery29, Unbothered and iD, which distributes our digital content across all platforms and offerings VMG- network will provide. We will also bring all of our news content under VICE News, which will now be our only global news umbrella brand. The teams will continue to work closely together, in a coordinated and collaborative manner focused on the shared vision for VICE News’ critical role in global news reporting.
Our global human resources team will begin notifying employees whose jobs are directly affected by these changes. If you have any questions, please contact your manager or HRBP.
We hope you understand that these changes have not been made lightly and it is extremely painful to see our colleagues go. VICE News began as a small team dedicated to breaking news from parts of the world ignored by the mainstream press. Our team is part of our family and an important part of what has made the VICE News brand what it is today, but as the media industry continues to rapidly evolve and our audiences consume content in new ways, this transformation is a necessary step to transforming the journalism in which VICE has always excelled and the future for VMG.
Thank you very much,
Bruce and Joseph
Source: Deadline
Mary Crossley is an author at “The Fashion Vibes”. She is a seasoned journalist who is dedicated to delivering the latest news to her readers. With a keen sense of what’s important, Mary covers a wide range of topics, from politics to lifestyle and everything in between.
