Vice axing 155, blames ‘Big Tech’ competition
The boss of Vice Media blamed “Big Tech” as she revealed a fresh wave of layoffs at the gonzo news-gatherer, saying Silicon Valley poses a “great threat to journalism.”
The Brooklyn-based media outfit — cofounded by its hard-partying executive chairman Shane Smith — is facing “business challenges,” Chief Executive Nancy Dubuc said Friday. In a memo to employees, she confirmed that Vice is eliminating 55 positions in the US and 100 jobs overseas, primarily in the struggling digital division.
But rather than the pandemic, which has squelched demand for ads across the board, Dubuc focused on the fact that tech giants Google and Facebook now control the lion’s share of the online advertising business.
“We grew our digital business faster than anyone at a time when we believed that as more pies were baked, we’d keep getting a slice,” Dubuc wrote.
“But we aren’t seeing the return from the platforms benefiting and making money from our hard work. Now, after many years of this, the squeeze is becoming a chokehold. Platforms are not just taking a larger slice of the pie, but almost the whole pie … 36,000+ lost jobs in journalism is enough to take your breath away,” she added.
In recent weeks, BuzzFeed, Group Nine Media, owner of Pop Sugar and Thrillist, as well as New York magazine-parent Vox Media, have all adopted a mix of measures to cull costs, including furloughs, pay reductions and layoffs.
“I worry about the day that I fear is fast approaching, when I wake up and everything I see, touch and know is because a few machines filtered my view by ‘optimizing’ the world around me for the sake of more growth and more revenue,” Dubuc said.
A Vice rep didn’t respond to a request for comment.