Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Once Soaring Vice Media Files for Bankruptcy, Latest Setback for Digital News Biz
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 12 months ago on
May 15, 2023

Share

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Vice Media is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, the latest digital media company to falter after a meteoric rise.

Vice said Monday that it has agreed to sell its assets to a consortium of lenders — Fortress Investment Group, Soros Fund Management and Monroe Capital — in exchange for $225 million in credit. Other parties will also be able to submit bids.

The bankruptcy filing arrives just weeks after the company announced it would cancel its flagship “Vice News Tonight” program amid a wave of layoffs — which was expected to impact more than 100 employees in the company’s 1,500-person workforce, the Wall Street Journal reported. The company also said it would end its Vice World News brand, making Vice News its only brand worldwide.

Monday’s filing comes amid a wave of media layoffs and closures — including job cuts at Gannett, NPR, the Washington Post and more over recent months. In April, BuzzFeed Inc. announced that its Pulitzer Prize winning digital media outlet BuzzFeed News was being shut down as part of a cost-cutting drive by its corporate parent.

Digital advertising has plummeted this year, cutting into the profitability of major tech companies from Google to Facebook.

Vice Media’s roots date back to 1994, with the launch of Vice’s original punk magazine in Montreal. Vice soon moved to New York and built itself into a global media company.

Over the years, Vice developed a reputation for in-your-face journalism that covered daring stories around the world. The media company’s assets also includes film and TV production, an in-house marketing agency, and brands such as Refinery 29 and Unbothered.

The media company has struggled to turn around profits in recent years. Amid its financial crunch, Vice secured $30 million in debt financing from Fortress Investment Group in February, the Wall Street Journal reported.

In 2017, Vice was valued at $5.7 billion. Now, however, most experts estimate the company is worth just a fraction of that, The New York Times reported earlier this month.

Vice co-CEOs Bruce Dixon and Hozefa Lokhandwala said the sale process will strengthen the company and position it for long-term growth, “thereby safeguarding the kind of authentic journalism and content creation that makes VICE such a trusted brand for young people and such a valued partner to brands, agencies and platforms.”

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

Police Investigating Possible Vandalism at Jewish Temple, Catholic Church

DON'T MISS

Valley PBS’ Top 2 Executives Departing. Were Their Resignations a Surprise?

DON'T MISS

Unfiltered Clip: Insights from Dr. Trita Parsi on Navigating the Israel-Palestine Conflict

DON'T MISS

Hamas Is Sending a Delegation to Egypt for Further Cease-Fire Talks in the Latest Sign of Progress

DON'T MISS

President Joe Biden Calls Japan and India ‘Xenophobic’ Nations That Do Not Welcome Immigrants

DON'T MISS

DEA’s Marijuana Reclassification Could Revive California’s Struggling Pot Industry

DON'T MISS

How to Reclaim the Israel-Palestine Debate From the Radicals on Both Sides

DON'T MISS

US Airstrike Targeting Al-Qaida Leader in Syria Killed a Farmer, American Military Says

DON'T MISS

Today’s Campus Protests Aren’t Nearly as Big or Violent as Those of the Vietnam Era

DON'T MISS

Mike Yaz Homers at Fenway In Giants Win After Visit From His Hall of Fame Grandpa

UP NEXT

US Airstrike Targeting Al-Qaida Leader in Syria Killed a Farmer, American Military Says

UP NEXT

Another State Department Official Resigns Over Biden’s Gaza Policy

UP NEXT

Peloton Cutting About 400 Jobs Worldwide; CEO McCarthy Stepping Down

UP NEXT

Senators Want Limits on Government’s Use of Facial Recognition Technology for Airport Screening

UP NEXT

Trump Calls Judge ‘Crooked’ After Facing a Warning of Jail Time if He Violates a Trial Gag Order

UP NEXT

Trump Awarded 36 Million More Trump Media Shares Worth $1.8 Billion

UP NEXT

The Latest | In Israel, Blinken Pushes Hamas to Agree on Gaza Cease-Fire Deal

UP NEXT

Oklahoma Towns Hard Hit by Tornadoes Begin Long Cleanup After 4 Killed in Weekend Storms

UP NEXT

United Auto Workers Reaches Deal With Daimler Truck, Averting Potential Strike in North Carolina

UP NEXT

Blinken Says Israel Must Still Do More to Boost Humanitarian Aid to Gaza

Hamas Is Sending a Delegation to Egypt for Further Cease-Fire Talks in the Latest Sign of Progress

11 hours ago

President Joe Biden Calls Japan and India ‘Xenophobic’ Nations That Do Not Welcome Immigrants

11 hours ago

DEA’s Marijuana Reclassification Could Revive California’s Struggling Pot Industry

11 hours ago

How to Reclaim the Israel-Palestine Debate From the Radicals on Both Sides

11 hours ago

US Airstrike Targeting Al-Qaida Leader in Syria Killed a Farmer, American Military Says

12 hours ago

Today’s Campus Protests Aren’t Nearly as Big or Violent as Those of the Vietnam Era

12 hours ago

Mike Yaz Homers at Fenway In Giants Win After Visit From His Hall of Fame Grandpa

12 hours ago

Lagging Revenue Drives California Budget Deficit as Deadline Nears

13 hours ago

Valley Children’s Gets ‘Historic’ Gift to Boost Cancer Treatments. How Big Is It?

Californians Are Protecting Themselves from Wildfire. Why Is There an Insurance Crisis?

13 hours ago

Police Investigating Possible Vandalism at Jewish Temple, Catholic Church

Fresno police are investigating an incident of flyers posted on the exterior windows of Temple Beth Israel, and also at St. Anthony of Padua...

7 hours ago

7 hours ago

Police Investigating Possible Vandalism at Jewish Temple, Catholic Church

Entertainment /
10 hours ago

Valley PBS’ Top 2 Executives Departing. Were Their Resignations a Surprise?

Video /
10 hours ago

Unfiltered Clip: Insights from Dr. Trita Parsi on Navigating the Israel-Palestine Conflict

11 hours ago

Hamas Is Sending a Delegation to Egypt for Further Cease-Fire Talks in the Latest Sign of Progress

11 hours ago

President Joe Biden Calls Japan and India ‘Xenophobic’ Nations That Do Not Welcome Immigrants

11 hours ago

DEA’s Marijuana Reclassification Could Revive California’s Struggling Pot Industry

11 hours ago

How to Reclaim the Israel-Palestine Debate From the Radicals on Both Sides

12 hours ago

US Airstrike Targeting Al-Qaida Leader in Syria Killed a Farmer, American Military Says

MENU

CONNECT WITH US

Search

Send this to a friend