It’s official! After 8.5 years at VICE, I’ve been laid off. It was a dream job, where I got to work with the most supportive editors and hilarious colleagues, who loved pushing boundaries. Despite the BS, I’ll treasure the memories forever. BIG OLE’ THREAD of some of my fav work:
— 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐚 𝐤𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐧𝐚𝐧 (@ManishaKrishnan) February 26, 2024
VICE Media has ceased publishing on vice.com after almost three decades as VICE CEO Bruce Dixon announced the elimination of “several hundred” positions, saying it’s no longer “cost-effective” to distribute its digital content in the traditional way. Dixon said Refinery29, the fashion and beauty blog VICE acquired in 2019, will continue to operate as a standalone business, with the company “in advanced discussions” to sell. Founded in Montreal in 1996, the company – once valued at $5.7 billion – filed for bankruptcy last May and was acquired by Fortress Investment Group for $350 million in June. VICE made a previous round of layoffs last fall, consolidating its five operating divisions to two, and reducing its global workforce to around 900 employees from what at the company’s high point was purportedly a staff of 3,000. It had previously downsized its Canadian staff on several occasions, including closing its Montreal office in 2019, among other rounds of layoffs in Toronto. Read more here.
Pink Triangle Press (PTP) has laid off staff with 16 positions eliminated last week, three of those tied to content at its flagship LGBTQ+ publication, Xtra. David Walberg, Executive Director of PTP, told Broadcast Dialogue that it was necessary “to align our cost structure with current market realities in order to protect the continued health of the organization overall.” Read more here.
