A grim year for journalism will get even grimmer next week when the American-Canadian digital media house that once prided itself on being a vanguard of a new wave of millennial-targeted news sites will shut down its website and lay off dozens of employees. The company’s CEO, Bruce Dixon, made the announcement Thursday evening in a memo to staff. “We are reducing our workforce significantly by eliminating several hundred positions across the company and converting the business to a studio model,” Dixon wrote.
Dixon, who took over as chief executive last year after Vice filed for bankruptcy protection and canceled its flagship Vice News Tonight television show, said the move is due to cost-effectiveness. “It has become increasingly clear that it is no longer feasible to continue operating as a traditional media company,” he wrote. “Our current distribution channels, once highly successful, are no longer sustainable.”
The CEO added that the company will stop publishing its content on its website and shift to a “studio model” that will include a focus on social media. Dixon also said the company was in advanced talks to sell Refinery29, its women’s lifestyle website. He blamed the moves on the declining advertising market and competition from platforms like TikTok.
“We create and produce outstanding original content true to the Vice brand, but this is not enough to sustain a profitable operation,” he said. The company’s once-proud news division won several Peabody Awards in recent years, including for pieces on the Islamic State, the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, and the plight of girls in Afghanistan. In addition to its news division, Vice has an in-house marketing agency and a cable TV channel.
In its heyday, Vice had a valuation of $5.7 billion and was seen as a template for a media empire that would combine irreverent news with slick commercial appeal. Its bold style was emulated by more prominent industry players eager to reach younger audiences, but the firm needed help when management conflicts and a sharp slowdown in online ad spending caught up with it.
The firm ultimately collapsed into financial insolvency, forcing it to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in May 2023. In July, it was formally sold to a group of lenders led by Fortress Investment LLC, Soros Fund Management, and Monroe Capital for $350 million. Last fall, the company canceled its Vice News Tonight television program and laid off dozens of employees as part of a restructuring plan. In a statement, the Vice union warned that the upcoming layoffs will be “catastrophic.” Editor-in-chief Josh Visser told staff in a Zoom call that he had asked senior managers to clarify the situation but had not received an answer.