Vice (magazine) explained

Vice
Editor:Ellis Jones
Editor Title:Editor-in-chief
Category:Lifestyle
Frequency:Monthly
Publisher:Vice Media
Circulation:900,000 (worldwide)
80,000 (UK)[1]
Founder:
Firstdate: (as Voice of Montreal)
Founded:Montreal, Canada
Based:New York City, United States
Issn:1077-6788
Oclc:30856250 (Online Computer Library Center)

Vice (stylized in all caps) is a Canadian-American magazine focused on lifestyle, arts, culture, and news/politics. It was founded in 1994 in Montreal as an alternative punk magazine,[2] and its founders later launched the youth media company Vice Media, which consists of divisions including the printed magazine as well as a website, broadcast news unit, a film production company, a record label, and a publishing imprint. As of February 2015, the magazine's editor-in-chief is Ellis Jones.[3] [4]

On 15 May 2023, Vice Media formally filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, as part of a possible sale to a consortium of lenders including Fortress Investment Group, which will, alongside Soros Fund Management and Monroe Capital, invest $225 million as a credit bid for nearly all of its assets.[5] In February 2024, CEO Bruce Dixon announced additional layoffs and that the website Vice.com will no longer publish content.

History

Founded by Suroosh Alvi, Gavin McInnes, and Shane Smith (the latter two being childhood friends),[6] the magazine was launched in October 1994 as a spin-out of the English-language portion of the Revue Images, a multicultural publication founded in the early 1990s by Dominique Ollivier with Alix Laurent,[7] under the name Voice of Montreal.[8] Voice of Montreal was split out from Revue Images with salary assistance through a Quebec welfare grant.[9] The intention of the founders was to provide work and a community service. When the editors later sought to dissolve their commitments with the original publisher, Images Interculturelles (represented by Alix Laurent), they bought out the publisher and changed the magazine's name to Vice in 1996.[10]

Richard Szalwinski, a Canadian software millionaire, acquired the magazine and relocated the operation to New York City in the late 1990s. Following the relocation, the magazine quickly developed a reputation for provocative and politically incorrect content. Under Szalwinski's ownership, a few retail stores were opened in New York City and customers could purchase fashion items that were advertised in the magazine. However, due to the end of the dot-com bubble, the three founders eventually regained ownership of the Vice brand, followed by closure of the stores.

The British edition of Vice was launched in 2002 and Andy Capper was its first editor. Capper explained in an interview shortly after the UK debut that the publication's remit was to cover "the things we're meant to be ashamed of", and articles were published on topics such as bukkake and bodily functions.[11]

By the end of 2007, 13 foreign editions of Vice magazine were published, the Vice independent record label was functional, and the online video channel VBS.com had 184,000 unique viewers from the U.S. during the month of August. The media company was still based in New York City, but the magazine began featuring articles on topics that were considered more serious, such as armed conflict in Iraq, than previous content. Alvi explained to The New York Times in November 2007: "The world is much bigger than the Lower East Side and the East Village."

McInnes left the publication in 2008, citing "creative differences" as the primary issue. In an email communication dated 23 January, McInnes explained: "I no longer have anything to do with Vice or VBS or DOs & DON'Ts or any of that. It's a long story but we've all agreed to leave it at 'creative differences,' so please don't ask me about it."[12]

At the commencement of 2012, an article in Forbes magazine referred to the Vice company as "Vice Media", but the precise time when this title development occurred is not public knowledge.[13] Vice acquired the fashion magazine i-D in December 2012 and, by February 2013, Vice produced 24 global editions of the magazine, with a global circulation of 1,147,000 (100,000 in the UK). By this stage, Alex Miller had replaced Capper as the editor-in-chief of the UK edition. Furthermore, Vice consisted of 800 worldwide employees, including 100 in London, and around 3,500 freelancers also produced content for the company.

In February 2015, Vice Media named Ellis Jones editor-in-chief of Vice magazine and former UK editor-in-chief, Alex Miller, was appointed to the position of global head of content.[14]

In 2023, Vice filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The company's lenders—Fortress Investment Group, Soros Fund Management and Monroe Capital—agreed to purchase the company for $225 million.[15] In February 2024, The New York Times highlighted that "over the past half-decade, Vice has had near annual layoffs and mounting losses, and has filed for bankruptcy, making it the poster child for the battered digital-media industry" and that while "some observers hoped its new owners [...] would reinvest" in the company, Fortress Investment Group has instead "decided to make sweeping cuts".[16]

Staff

Content

Scope

Vice magazine includes the work of journalists, columnists, fiction writers, graphic artists and cartoonists, and photographers. Both Vices online and magazine content has shifted from dealing mostly with independent arts and pop cultural matters to covering more serious news topics. Due to the large array of contributors and the fact that often writers will only submit a small number of articles with the publication, Vices content varies dramatically and its political and cultural stance is often unclear or contradictory. Articles on the site feature a range of subjects, often things not covered as by mainstream media. The magazine's editors have championed the immersionist school of journalism, which has been passed to other properties of Vice Media such as the documentary television show Balls Deep on the Viceland Channel. This style of journalism is regarded as something of a DIY antithesis to the methods practiced by mainstream news outlets, and has published an entire issue of articles written in accordance with this ethos. Entire issues of the magazine have also been dedicated to the concerns of Iraqi people, Native Americans, Russian people, people with mental disorders, and people with mental disabilities. Vice also publishes an annual guide for students in the United Kingdom.

In 2007, a Vice announcement was published on the Internet:

After umpteen years of putting out what amounted to a reference book every month, we started to get bored with it. Besides, too many other magazines have ripped it and started doing their own lame take on themes. So we're going to do some issues, starting now, that have whatever we feel like putting in them.

Politics

In a March 2008 interview with The Guardian, Smith was asked about the magazine's political allegiances and he stated, "We're not trying to say anything politically in a paradigmatic left/right way… We don't do that because we don't believe in either side. Are my politics Democrat or Republican? I think both are horrific. And it doesn't matter anyway. Money runs America; money runs everywhere."

Website

Vice.com
Owner:Vice Media
Current Status:Active

Vice founded its website as Viceland.com in 1996, as Vice.com was already owned. In 2007, it started VBS.tv as a domain, which prioritized videos over print, and had a number of shows for free such as The Vice Guide to Travel. In 2011, Viceland.com and VBS.tv were combined into Vice.com,[20] also the host of the Vice Motherboard website at motherboard.vice.com.[21]

In 2012, Vice Media was created as the parent company for Vice magazine and other properties including Vice News on HBO and the Vice.com website.[22] The company has since expanded and diversified to include a network of online channels, including Munchies.tv, Motherboard.tv, Noisey.com, Thu.mp, and Broadly.[23]

On 22 February 2024, Vice Media CEO Bruce Dixon announced "several hundred" additional layoffs as the company restructures,[24] and that the website Vice.com would no longer publish content.[25]

Book

Reputation

From its beginnings as Voice of Montreal, Vice had a "reputation for provocation".[26] In 2010, Vice was described as "gonzo journalism for the YouTube generation".[27] As the magazine grew into a broader media brand, it struggled with "how to distance itself from its crude past, yet hold on to enough of that reputation to cement, and grow, its authority with its core audience".[28] Nevertheless, the magazine has continued to face controversy. In 2013, the magazine retracted parts of a fashion spread entitled 'Last Words' which depicted "female writers killing themselves".[29] Also in 2013, Vice again gained unwelcome attention when the then-editor of the magazine joined millionaire software mogul John McAfee as he evaded authorities to avoid being questioned about a murder case.

Sexual harassment at parent company

In the late 2017, multiple stories were published citing allegations of sexual misconduct and a general "boys club" culture at Vice magazine's parent company, Vice Media.[30] [31]

Awards

See also

Further reading

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: From chic to cheek. 26 April 2013. The Daily Telegraph. 15 July 2006. Tom. Horan. London. https://web.archive.org/web/20121111040315/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/3653808/From-chic-to-cheek.html. 11 November 2012. live.
  2. Web site: 22 June 2019 . Online magazine Vice closes Montreal office . 19 February 2024 . Montreal . en . 19 February 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240219191252/https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/online-magazine-vice-closes-montreal-office-1.4478207 . live .
  3. Web site: Sterne . Peter . Vice E.I.C. Rocco Castoro out at Vice . Capital New York . 12 February 2015 . 11 February 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150212125902/http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/media/2015/02/8562160/vice-eic-rocco-castoro-out-vice . 12 February 2015 . dead .
  4. Web site: Vice Media Settled With 4 Women Over Sexual Harassment, Defamation. The Hollywood Reporter. Natalie. Jarvey. 23 December 2017. en. 24 June 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190624000549/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/vice-media-settles-4-women-sexual-harassment-defamation-report-1070260. 24 June 2019. live.
  5. Web site: Vice Media Files For Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. Deadline Hollywood. Jesse. Whittock. 15 May 2023. 15 May 2023. 15 May 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230515081704/https://deadline.com/2023/05/vice-media-chapter-11-bankruptcy-1235366640/. live.
  6. News: Robert Levine. A Guerrilla Video Site Meets MTV. 7 November 2014. The New York Times. 19 November 2007. https://web.archive.org/web/20141107145350/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/19/business/media/19vice.html?hp&_r=0. 7 November 2014. live.
  7. Web site: Revue Images (selected issues) . Internet Archive.
  8. "Notons principalement la disparition du volet anglophone de notre magazine. Cette séparation (signe des temps?) n'a pour but que la création d'une publication soeur: VOICE OF MONTREAL, qui a vu le jour en octobre dernier. Ce divorce à l'amiable devenait nécessaire pour permettre plus de liberté aux deux groupes linguistiques et pour assurer une meilleure représentativité." Boisclair . Denis . Le nouvel Images s'améliore ! . Revue Images . November 1994 . 4 . 1 . 1 .
  9. https://www.canadaland.com/podcast/vice-oral-history/ "#18 VICE: An Oral History"
  10. "On leaving Images Interculturelles" Book: Alvi . Suroosh . texts The Vice guide to sex and drugs and rock and roll . 2003 . Warner Books . 9780446692816 . 5 .
  11. Web site: Andrew Pugh. 'Maybe we've grown up': Ten years on, how Vice magazine got serious. Press Gazette. Progressive Media International. 7 November 2014. 28 February 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20141123191001/http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/%E2%80%98maybe-we%E2%80%99ve-grown-up%E2%80%99-ten-years-how-vice-magazine-got-serious. 23 November 2014. dead.
  12. Web site: Co-Founder Gavin McInnes Finally Leaves 'Vice'. Pareene. Gawker. 7 November 2014. 23 January 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20161010093200/http://gawker.com/348019/co-founder-gavin-mcinnes-finally-leaves-vice. 10 October 2016. live.
  13. News: Jeff Bercovici. Tom Freston's $1 Billion Revenge: Ex-Viacom Chief Helps Vice Become the Next MTV. Forbes. Forbes, LLC. 8 November 2014. 3 January 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20141108083023/http://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffbercovici/2012/01/03/tom-frestons-1-billion-revenge-ex-viacom-chief-helps-vice-become-the-next-mtv/. 8 November 2014. live.
  14. News: Vice announces new global head of content and editor-in-chief. Baird. Dugald. 12 February 2015. The Guardian. 5 February 2020. en-GB. 0261-3077. https://web.archive.org/web/20200205152848/https://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/feb/12/vice-media-alex-miller-ellis-jones. 5 February 2020. live.
  15. Web site: After a 29-year run, Vice files for bankruptcy. Amanda. Silberling. 15 May 2023. 16 May 2023. 15 May 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230515153501/https://techcrunch.com/2023/05/15/after-a-29-year-run-vice-files-for-bankruptcy/. live.
  16. News: Mullin . Benjamin . 22 February 2024 . Vice's New Owners Prepare to Slash What's Left of Its Work Force . 22 February 2024 . . 22 February 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240222205538/https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/22/business/vices-new-layoffs.html . live .
  17. Web site: Shane Smith sees a 'perfect storm' coming for the press. Poynter. James . Warren. 22 February 2017. en. 23 April 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180424071612/https://www.poynter.org/news/shane-smith-sees-perfect-storm-coming-press. 24 April 2018. live.
  18. News: Vice Media's brash CEO resigns, A+E Networks chief steps up. NBC News. Daniel. Arkin. 13 March 2018. 23 April 2018. en-US. https://web.archive.org/web/20180423165046/https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/pop-culture-news/vice-chief-executive-shane-smith-resigns-n856271. 23 April 2018. live.
  19. News: Is Vice Getting Nice?. Carrie . Battan. Daily Intelligencer. 1 April 2015. 23 April 2018. en. https://web.archive.org/web/20180424072226/https://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2015/03/vice-getting-nice.html. 24 April 2018. live.
  20. News: Finally, All Our Crap Is in One Place . Rocco . Castoro . Vice . 15 September 2011. 1 December 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160304042930/http://www.vice.com/read/finally-all-our-crap-in-one-place-v18n9 . 4 March 2016. live.
  21. Web site: About Motherboard. Vice Media. 11 February 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180211131235/https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/page/about-motherboard. 11 February 2018. live.
  22. News: Vice's Shane Smith and Tom Freston on Sending Dennis Rodman to North Korea for HBO. The Hollywood Reporter. Eriq. Gardner. 12 April 2013. 23 April 2018. en. https://web.archive.org/web/20180424073416/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/vices-shane-smith-tom-freston-434990. 24 April 2018. live.
  23. Web site: Broadly – About . en . 6 January 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180107054238/https://broadly.vice.com/en_us/page/broadly-about-en . 7 January 2018 . live .
  24. Web site: Spangler . Todd . 22 February 2024 . Vice Will Cease Publishing on Vice.com and Lay Off 'Several Hundred' Staffers, CEO Says . 22 February 2024 . Variety . en-US . 22 February 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240222224948/https://variety.com/2024/digital/news/vice-cease-publishing-layoff-hundreds-ceo-1235919843/ . live .
  25. News: Saeedy . Alexander . Bruell . Alexandra . 22 February 2024 . Vice Media to Stop Publishing on Vice.com, Plans to Cut Hundreds of Jobs . subscription . 22 February 2024 . . en-US . 22 February 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240222224948/https://www.wsj.com/business/media/vice-media-to-stop-publishing-on-vice-com-plans-to-cut-hundreds-of-jobs-1121c8d1 . live .
  26. The Bad-Boy Brand. Widdicombe. Lizzie. 1 April 2013. The New Yorker. 16 March 2018. en. 0028-792X. https://web.archive.org/web/20180314060324/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2013/04/08/the-bad-boy-brand. 14 March 2018. live.
  27. News: Up Close With Shane Smith. Williams. Alex. 16 August 2010. The New York Times. 16 March 2018. en-US. 0362-4331. https://web.archive.org/web/20171120002835/http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/19/fashion/19upclose.html. 20 November 2017. live.
  28. News: The cult of Vice. Columbia Journalism Review. Chris . Ip. 6 July 2015. 16 March 2018. en. https://web.archive.org/web/20180314175313/https://www.cjr.org/analysis/the_cult_of_vice.php. 14 March 2018. live.
  29. News: 'Last Words': A Statement from VICE. 13 June 2013. Vice. 16 March 2018. en-us. https://web.archive.org/web/20180317042842/https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/qbw77b/last-words-000741-v20n6. 17 March 2018. live.
  30. Web site: At Vice, Cutting-Edge Media and Allegations of Old-School Sexual Harassment. . Emily . Steel . 23 December 2017 . 24 December 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20171223233210/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/23/business/media/vice-sexual-harassment.html . 23 December 2017 . live.
  31. Web site: Vice Media Admits 'We Failed' to Curb Sexual Harassment at Company. Variety. Andrew. Wallenstein. 23 December 2017. 24 December 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171223212042/http://variety.com/2017/biz/news/vice-media-admits-we-failed-to-curb-sexual-harassment-at-company-1202648481/. 23 December 2017. live.
  32. Web site: ASME Best Cover Contest 2018 Winners & Finalists ASME. www.magazine.org. en. 27 April 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180428093810/http://www.magazine.org/asme/best-cover-contest-2018-winners-finalists#Best%20Travel%20and%20Adventure. 28 April 2018. live.
  33. Web site: Best Cover Contest 2017 Winners & Finalists ASME. www.magazine.org. en. 27 April 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180428180731/http://www.magazine.org/asme/magazine-cover-contest/past-winners-finalists/best-cover-contest-2017-winners-finalists#Most%20Delicious. 28 April 2018. live.
  34. Web site: Best American Magazine Writing ASME. www.magazine.org. en. 27 April 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180430142408/http://www.magazine.org/asme/national-magazine-awards/best-american-magazine-writing. 30 April 2018. live.
  35. Web site: Best Cover Contest 2015 Winners & Finalists ASME. www.magazine.org. en. 27 April 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20150516005627/http://www.magazine.org/asme/magazine-cover-contest/past-winners-finalists/2015-winners-finalists#Readers%20Choice-News%20and%20Politics. 16 May 2015. dead.
  36. Web site: Best Cover Contest 2015 Winners & Finalists ASME. www.magazine.org. en. 27 April 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20150516005627/http://www.magazine.org/asme/magazine-cover-contest/past-winners-finalists/2015-winners-finalists#Readers%20Choice-Science%20and%20Nature. 16 May 2015. dead.
  37. Web site: Magazine A-List 2010 - AdAge. adage.com. en. 27 April 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180428093949/http://adage.com/special-reports/magazinealist2010/138. 28 April 2018. live.
  38. News: Moonlight, The OA, and Frank Ocean Among GLAAD Media Awards Nominees. Vulture. 27 April 2018. en. https://web.archive.org/web/20170131213239/http://www.vulture.com/2017/01/see-the-glaad-media-awards-nominees.html. 31 January 2017. live.
  39. Web site: Ellies 2016 Finalists Announced ASME. www.magazine.org. en. 14 January 2016. 27 April 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180509005423/http://www.magazine.org/asme/ellies-2016-finalists-announced. 9 May 2018. dead.
  40. Web site: National Magazine Awards 2014 Finalists Announced ASME. www.magazine.org. en. 27 March 2014. 27 April 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20140330020508/http://www.magazine.org/about-asme/pressroom/asme-press-releases/asme/national-magazine-awards-2014-finalists-announced. 30 March 2014. dead.
  41. Web site: National Magazine Awards 2012 Finalists Announced ASME. www.magazine.org. en. 3 April 2012. 27 April 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180106065655/http://www.magazine.org/asme/about-asme/pressroom/asme-press-releases/national-magazine-awards-2012-finalists-announced. 6 January 2018. live.

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