Vice Media to Reorganize, Lay Off 10 Percent of Staff
Vice Media is planning a reorganization that will include laying off about 10 percent of its workforce as the once high-flying startup looks to rein in an unwieldy business that grew quickly during the height of the digital boom.
Around 250 jobs are expected to be cut, a company spokeswoman tells The Hollywood Reporter, as the 2,500-person Vice reduces redundancies internationally and reorients to focus on growth areas like film and television production and branded content. All departments at every level are expected to have layoffs, from IT to finance to television.
[...] It is crucial that Vice, which the Wall Street Journal reported in November was on track to bring revenue between $600 million and $650 million in 2018, become profitable as investors get antsy for the company to find a buyer. Disney took a $157 million write-down on its Vice stake in November.
Also at TechCrunch.
Another link from AC: Newsflash: The Trump Curse? Vice Media Cuts 10% of Staff after HuffingtonPost & BuzzFeed Layoffs
Related: BuzzFeed to Cut 15% of Staff in New Round of Layoffs
Over 1,000 Media Jobs Lost in One Day
Related Stories
CNN is reporting BuzzFeed to Cut 15% of Staff in New Round of Layoffs:
BuzzFeed is preparing to lay off about 15% of its employees. The coming contraction is the latest example of a media company making cutbacks in a difficult operating environment.
The reductions will affect multiple departments, including the news division, according to sources familiar with the matter.
BuzzFeed has about 1,450 employees, so about 220 will be leaving, one of the sources confirmed.
BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti confirmed the sharp cut on Wednesday after reporters from other news outlets began inquiring.
The layoffs, he said in an internal memo, are part of a broader effort to "put us on a firm foundation and allow us to invest and grow sustainably for years to come."
After "extensive work" in the past few months, "we've developed a good understanding of where we can consolidate our teams, focus in on the content that is working, and achieve the right cost structure to support our multi-revenue model," Peretti wrote.
As Google and Facebook gobble up an increasing share of on-line advertising sales, what do on-line services have to do in order to survive?
The media industry's current round of cuts and consolidation is accelerating. Sizable layoffs at Buzzfeed, Gannett and Verizon Media (home of AOL, Yahoo, HuffPost and others) were announced Wednesday, totaling over 1,000 jobs cut.
Why it matters: If the headlines signal anything, it's that the news media will continue to struggle to find a sustainable business model in an advertising and attention ecosystem dominated by tech companies like Google, Facebook and Netflix.
By the numbers:
- Verizon Media will cut roughly 800 jobs, or 7% of its global workforce across the organization, as well as certain brands and products. Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg told Axios earlier this month that each of the company's three units, including the media business, needed to be able to stand on their own. (A company spokesperson later clarified to Axios that Verizon Media Group will still have access to Verizon customer data when customers opt in to provide such information.)
- Buzzfeed will cut roughly 250 jobs, or roughly 15% of its workforce, including jobs within its news division.
- Gannett cut over 20 jobs Wednesday, per Poynter, with more expected as the company tries to shed costs amid buyout talks.
[...] Bottom line: Many news companies are struggling to find sustainable business models in the digital era. There's no sign it's getting any easier.
Previous: BuzzFeed to Cut 15% of Staff in New Round of Layoffs
Once a digital media darling, Vice Media Group on Monday filed for bankruptcy protection after years of financial troubles:
A consortium of Vice's lenders which includes Fortress Investment, Soros Fund Management and Monroe Capital is looking to acquire the company following the filing.
The digital media trailblazer, once valued at $5.7 billion and known for sites including Vice and Motherboard, had been restructuring and cutting jobs across its global news business over recent months.
[...] Launched in Canada in 1994 as a fringe magazine, Vice expanded around the world with youth-focused content and a prominent social media presence. It endured several years of financial troubles, however, as tech giants such as Google and Meta vacuumed up global ad spend.
To facilitate its sale, Vice filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. If the application is approved, other parties will be able to bid for the company. Credit bids enable creditors to swap secured debt for company assets rather than pay cash.
Also at NPR, CNN and CBC News.
Previously: Vice Media Will Reorganize and Lay Off 10% of Staff
(Score: -1, Troll) by Ethanol-fueled on Saturday February 02 2019, @02:02AM (2 children)
Jews Lose. Hahahah, looks like they expect the propaganda money allocated under Grand Emperor Baraq Hussein Soetoro to dry up. We are making America great again!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 02 2019, @02:41AM (1 child)
"Ethanol-fueled", a self-hating Mexican. Don't even know the fuck's a Mexican.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 02 2019, @03:17AM
Sounds like Eth is having a "rough" day. Perhaps his genitals detached, again. And he forgot where he put them.
(Score: 1, Troll) by realDonaldTrump on Saturday February 02 2019, @02:31AM (10 children)
Anonymous didn't just send the Link. They made a whole Sub. But Elitist Editors rejected it (Karma denied). And got someone from the Elite to do a Sub. So it would be "quality." If it comes from the Elite it's "quality." And it it comes from anyone else it's not. They call it the "poor quality." The Elite! Why are they Elite? I have a much better apartment than they do. I'm smarter than they are. I'm richer than they are. I became President and they didn't.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Saturday February 02 2019, @02:45AM (9 children)
Sounds like you have karma on your mind. Maybe you should cultivate your qi instead.
Or... learn to code.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 3, Insightful) by RandomFactor on Saturday February 02 2019, @03:40AM (8 children)
I thought Learn to Code was a meme being thrown at laid off journalists?
.
(the explanation I saw is that journalists were insensitive to middle Americans losing jobs in years past and gave advice like 'learn to code' and this is a turnabout meme.)
.
Joy.
В «Правде» нет известий, в «Известиях» нет правды
(Score: 5, Interesting) by takyon on Saturday February 02 2019, @03:54AM (7 children)
https://thinkprogress.org/learn-to-code-decoded-the-campaign-against-laid-off-journalists-is-harassments-new-frontier-20725ddd480a/ [thinkprogress.org]
https://newrepublic.com/article/153019/fetid-right-wing-origins-learn-code [newrepublic.com]
It's causing butthurt on a level not seen since the NPC meme. I also wonder what our own MDC hater has to say about it.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 02 2019, @04:29AM
You know when the irony is so thick it manifests in the air around you and you can smack your lips around and taste it, it's just delicious.
(Score: 0, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 02 2019, @04:44AM (2 children)
It is interesting how your posting pattern shifted once aristarchus outed you.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 02 2019, @05:03AM
Well then, this aristarchus whom you speak of sounds like quite the shitlord.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Saturday February 02 2019, @05:10AM
Yawn!
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 3, Interesting) by HiThere on Saturday February 02 2019, @05:15AM
Yeah, and it's advice I don't like. Of course, if they were willing to replace the H1B's...
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
(Score: 3, Informative) by RandomFactor on Saturday February 02 2019, @10:33AM (1 child)
Apparently so. Railing against nazis and white supremacists while decrying right wing dog whistles.
4chan's probably howling.
В «Правде» нет известий, в «Известиях» нет правды
(Score: 2) by cubancigar11 on Sunday February 03 2019, @07:10AM
That article explaining 'brigading' is gold! I wonder if this blindness towards brigading when it was done towards non-politically-correct (NPC? Hehehe) minority groups by calling them nazi, having their social media account deactivated or get them demonetized and banned, calling them nazi... is malicious or just these people really are that blind because of poor education. I mean, they are journalists, they are supposed to know more, right?
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 02 2019, @02:47PM
So - they literally decided to decimate their staff!
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Phoenix666 on Saturday February 02 2019, @03:00PM (2 children)
There's a guy called Styxhexenhammer666 on YouTube who had an interesting take on the media lay-offs this week. He describes himself as a libertarian, I think. Anyway he said the opinion sections of the media, which has come to be the majority of what the media does now, has no value in an age when millions of guys like him can put out opinions too for next to nothing. In short, the traditional media is far too top-heavy in the production of content that one guy in a basement can match, so they are being out-competed.
I think it's a good thing in the long term, that will be quite painful for people in the traditional media in the short term. Getting knocked off your pedestal always is--"pride goeth before the fall," and all that. Ultimately the tradional media will be forced to return to actual reporting and investigation, because it's the only thing that does have value in that business; simultaneously citizen journalists might step up to a higher level also.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 02 2019, @03:31PM (1 child)
Not to mention the basement guys can say whatever they want while most of the news media has to respect their corporate overlords.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 02 2019, @10:02PM
** spoon clank **
(Score: 1, Offtopic) by VLM on Saturday February 02 2019, @03:13PM (2 children)
Found a minor tpyo in the article, no biggie:
Was miss spelled and the corrected version is
Secondly I don't like to see it as "jobs lost" more as "start studying coding". Merely a glass half full glass half empty situation rather than a factual error as mentioned above.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 02 2019, @05:35PM (1 child)
As EF so politically incorrectly stated before, the propaganda money available for social justice outrage "reporting" seems to be drying up. These laid off "reporters" can go get $15 per hour jobs at their local McDonalds if they don't want to learn to code.
Now what will the Democratic Party's playbook be like for next year's election? Perhaps they will return to address issues faced by normal Americans again?
(Score: 4, Interesting) by jmorris on Saturday February 02 2019, @06:17PM
Looks like it might be literal propaganda. Spergs on 4chan found an interesting 160M allocation in the last Defense Authorization Obama signed for domestic propaganda operations. It was a two year funding that expired Dec 2018. About a thousand people laid off in Jan 2019. Work the math. About $80K per head for two years from a 160M pot of cash gets about a thousand people "fully comped" to occupy a cover position at a media shop.