When a group of buyers led by Fortress Investment Group agreed to spend $350 million to rescue Vice Media out of bankruptcy last year, some believed Vice’s long nightmare of job cuts and resource reductions would soon end.
Turns out, the nightmare was just beginning.
On Thursday, executives at Vice Media affirmed the company would undergo another round of layoffs that will see hundreds of positions eliminated in the coming week.
In a memo circulated to Vice staff, Vice CEO Bruce Dixon said the company will also be looking at other cost-savings measures, including an immediate suspension of all publication to the Vice website in favor of distributing content through social media and other unnamed partner platforms.
“It is no longer cost-effective for us to distribute our digital content the way we have done previously,” Dixon wrote in the memo.
Refinery29, a female-focused entertainment website, will continue operating as a standalone business within the Vice ecosystem, Dixon said. But other brands would see a sizable reduction in staff and resources as Fortress attempts to make Vice profitable by summer.
Some Vice editors and reporters received an early heads-up that the company may close down the website, and began backing up their work in the event of a shutdown. As of Thursday afternoon, the Vice website was still operational, but a senior editor at Vice affirmed their access to the content management system that powers the website was shut off.
The layoffs at Vice are the latest to impact the world of media, entertainment and news. Also on Thursday, employees at Verizon Media’s technology blog Engadget received notice that many staff writers and editors would be let go. One day earlier, workers at BuzzFeed were warned of impending layoffs afflicting that company’s editorial and entertainment brands, too.
The Intercept, The Messenger, Now This, CBS News and the Los Angeles Times have all announced layoffs since the start of the year. The Messenger took things one step further by fully shutting down its website, with no advanced warning to journalists or readers.
