Vice News: The Magazine That Almost Took Over the World

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by Samuel Pordengerg May 20, 2023 News
Vice News: The Magazine That Almost Took Over the World

Vice News will be getting a Pabst blue ribbon. The counter culture of the 2000's is over. It's time to return to the age of corporate media dominance, the algorithm is waiting for you. Vice wanted to take over the world, but it wasn't enough.

The ubiquitous online-news media and lifestyle branding company, one that brought us classics featuring lurid stories about designer drugs and ridiculous characters like General Butt Naked, is close to death.

Estimated to be worth nearly $6 billion at one point, the one-stop hipster destination is destined for news Valhalla alongside the likes of other once incredible news outlets. Which one? It's absolutely true. Pop culture and news media are both changeable. Vice tried to balance the two aspects of their business model, journalism and influence, for a while.

The cool brand is passé and no one wants to buy it at a fire sale. The darling of 21st Century journalism went astray. It succeeded at all, even though it is now dying. Vice media did a great job of delivering on their wild promises. The goods were delivered by someone. The reporting was always enjoyable. The only way forward is down once you get to the top of the culture.

A Flaming Molotov in the Darkness

Vice documentary
Vice TV

The first magazine to join was Voice of Montreal, which was unafraid of drug employees and started as a welfare funded magazine. "Vice wouldn't exist if I hadn't been a heroin addicted person" The Canadian publication was daring and anarchic and devoted to capitalism and buying the right products to look cool. Vice never worried about the conflicting message regarding consumption and conformity.

The shady side of human life as it pertains to sex, drugs, social issues, music, and yet more drugs was covered by the three founding members of the company. Smith told his friend that the magazine would take over the world. The drugs had to be worn off.

After living in Canada for a few years, the trio moved to New York City. Vice was a way of life for many, Smith, McInnes, and Alvi bungled into a goldmine by being themselves, covering the things they wanted, the way they wanted, which brought some unwanted attention. Vice got a lot of attention in the early days of social media, but for punk fanzine writers, any attention was welcomed.

The magazine launched its own music label after McInnes left Vice. It was when Vice dove into reporting on international events that it stole the attention of the 18-34 crowd. In about a decade, the full-length video on YouTube for their documentary "The Cannibal Warlords of Liberia" racked up 26 million clicks. Network programming directors would love to see the numbers.

Vice News Shane Smith
Vice Media

Smith was once referred to as the "cult of Vice" by the not-at-all-jealous Columbia Journalism Review. Out was cable news, and in was pieces about cannibalism, Chinese festivals for eating dogs, and investigative pieces about fighting in Britain. You clicked because you couldn't believe what you were reading and wanted more. You were hooked before you even knew what you were watching or reading.

It wasn't news in the traditional sense, but it scratched an itch no one else atlegacy media cared to look into. The media conglomerates realized that Vice was making a lot of money. Viceland airs more acceptable TV-viewing like Hamilton Morris's drug-oriented Hamilton's Pharmacopeia and Action Bronson's cooking show F*ck, That's Delicious. The docuseries Vice Investigates was going to be shown on the streamer, but they decided to show it on another platform. Things were not as good as the smiling Smith and Alvi led on.

Shane Smith Vice Media 2017
Vice

Viceland, the TV channel of Vice's media empire, didn't even crack the top 100 watched channels in the ratings for the year. Trends are great for clicks in the short term, but without a real identity for producing news, the interest evaporated, shifting to YouTubers, TikTokers, or other social media personality who were offering the same content The 18-34 group is not as loyal as the Boomers are. Vice's value has plummeted to $400 million, a tiny fraction of what it was once worth.

In the mid-2010s, the alternative news world exploded. The boom of sites College Humor and Cracked.com ended as alternative media sites had to purge much of their marquee names due to an advertising bust. A less-reputable competitor to Vice Media's stable of websites and news shows recently left this mortal coil and was greeted with a smile. Vice went from essential to useless in a decade. We are all wondering how long it has been.

The Vice brand has enemies but not friends. It created a weekly news program that was not like 60 Minutes. They became a bloated, mid-level, bloated corporate entity because of their reputation for being a trendy news source. The transition from upstart, punk journalists to regular reporters backfired badly and employees were terrified that they may not even receive a severance package when their jobs are inevitably terminated. Establishing yourself in a volatile market is a difficult task. They can't even pick a fight with Andrew Tate. Vice News isn't dead, but it's not clear how it will survive now that it can't rely on its hip reputation Those who still have fond memories of the crazy days of the wild west will use that as a marketing tool.

Some solace can be found in the homage to the company's roots. Punk rock is more than throwing up a middle finger and making a lot of money.